It has been more than 50 years since the official establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and France, cooperative activities within the bilateral and multilateral framework have been established and developed such as economics, education, science and technology, social sciences and humanities, justice and administration, culture and tourism…
Not only that, in Vietnam, French cultural and architectural imprints are still present on a number of monuments. As well as Vietnamese works of art collected and preserved by the French.
For example, the artwork of King Ham Nghi, art objects as well as royal belongings of King Bao Dai have been displayed, introduced and auctioned in France by auction houses such as Aguttes, Lynda Trouvé, Millon… in which, Millon auction house has auctioned valuable Vietnamese antiques and artworks.
A lot of those rare objects have been returned to the homeland after years in foreign lands. In particular, the Golden Seal “Hoàng Đế Chi Bảo” was repatriated in 2023 in goodwill cooperation between Millon Auction House, France and Vietnamese authorities, organizations and individuals.
Millon France auction house was founded in 1928, with headquarters in the auction center Drouot, district 9, Paris. The current president is Mr. Alexandre Millon.
In addition to its strengths in antiques and rare artifacts, the same goes for works of art, Millon constantly searches, researches and brings to market valuable works by famous Vietnamese artists; by French professors who have created on themes of Vietnam since 1925. In 2021, Millon successfully auctioned the lacquer work Landscape of Cambodian Phnom Penh by artist Le Quoc Loc for more than 1.2 million EUR. In addition, valuable works by Pham Hau, Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam, Mai Trung Thu… have also been successfully auctioned at high prices.
President of Millon France, Mr. Alexandre Millon pays a lot of attention to the Vietnamese art market. After much research and practical access to Vietnam, Mr. Alexandre realized the potential and development here, so he had direct and specific plans to establish an official representative office in Hanoi and prepare for duplex auctions at both points.
In March 2024, Millon officially opened a representative office in Hanoi, Vietnam – Millon Vietnam and appointed Mr. Hoang Duy Cuong as Director. Mr. Hoang Duy Cuong comes from a family with a tradition of collecting antiques, so he has a passion for researching this field. Hoang Duy Cuong studied at the University of Architecture (Hanoi), Master of Technology in France; he got a degree from Drouot: Consultants spécialisé le marcher de l’art.
He spent 4 years working at Drouot Auction Center, France. During his work, he saw a lot of Vietnamese works of art and antiques auctioned here. He realized some shortcomings when valuable objects had to be moved carefully from France or some other countries to Vietnam as well as vice versa… because they were all precious and valuable antiques and works with historical value, artistic value as well as great material value.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the standards for an international auction house have not yet been finalized. Therefore, Mr. Hoang Duy Cuong has a desire to combine and cooperate with a prestigious European auction house of international standards to conduct auctions of Vietnamese works of art and antiques right in Vietnam. All processes of organizing content, activities, and conducting the auctions are under the permission of the legal and cultural authorities of Vietnam.
At the end of April 2024, Millon will organize an auction in the form of a “duplex” auction in parallel at the same time in Vietnam and France. Mr. Alexandre Millon, President of Millon France will be the auctioneer of the auction in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Up to now, Millon is the only auction house organizing an international auction of works of art in Vietnam. This creates conditions for the seller to find a reputable and trustworthy organization to entrust the valuable objects, buyers have a legal basis to collect with public, clear and transparent provenances. If there is anything unsatisfactory, they can ask the authorities. Valuable objects do not have to be at risk or expensively insured when moving between countries.
To achieve the above key goals, Millon Vietnam signed for cooperation with two “comprehensive strategic partners”, Lac Viet Partnership Auction Company and Viet Art View Company – Comprehensive Art Consulting.
Lac Viet Partnership Auction Company will advise on all legal issues for Millon Vietnam’s auction activities.
Viet Art View Company will cooperate including issues related to consulting on artworks, organizing communication and other areas related to artistic activities.
President of Millon France, Mr. Alexandre Millon also talked directly with the two representatives of Lac Viet and Viet Art View in the atmosphere of respect, inquiry and openness.
We look forward to Millon Vietnam’s activities in the near future. For collectors and art lovers, let us share news and images of Millon Vietnam on the information platforms of Millon Vietnam, Lac Viet and Viet Art View.
Written by Viet Art View
