17:00 (Việt Nam), 11:00 (France) Friday, April 5, 2024
First, it must still be the focal work of the Masters of Vietnamese lacquer painting. Their works are always highly appreciated, sought after and collected.
The first surprise is the works of artists Ngô Mạnh Quỳnh and Phạm Đức Cường.
1. Lot 214
Artist: Ngô Mạnh Quỳnh (1917 – 1991)
Year of creation: 1943
Medium: Lacquer engraving
Dimensions: 139×90 cm
Estimate: 5000 – 8000 EUR
Provenance: From Mr. René Jolly, Director of the Department of Cadastre and Geography
of Indochina, Nam Định province, Tonkin.
This is an old, large-sized, complete work by Ngo Manh Quynh, quite rare on the market. When mentioning Ngo Manh Quynh, we often think of his lacquer painting Come to the pagoda, 1943, or his very famous Thầy Pagoda. Later, he gradually switched to a painting style of few colour, just black and white, then ink painting. At the exhibition The art of ink painting in February 1944 at La Crémaillère, the following words were written: “We still know that Mr. Manh Quynh wants to show us paintings that are completely Vietnamese from the drawing style to the materials used, but one can think that if a few of them had a little light color added, the whole picture would be happier.”
If Manh Quynh had continued to focus on lacquer medium like Nguyen Gia Tri, Nguyen Van Ty, Nguyen Tien Chung, and Hoang Tich Chu, we would probably have a name more for this medium today. Therefore, with this painting that is certainly rare, it should not be missed because of its rarity. And certainly it is also very beautiful and worth collecting.
With a starting price of 5000 – 8000 EUR, which is too good for a work like this, it could only come from two things. One is that the auction house increases its appeal to buyers. Second, after years, the painting might have been degraded because of the technology of that period, the panel and paint still had some limitations. Therefore, seeing it in person before deciding is always an important factor for collectors.
2. Lot 215
Artist: Pham Duc Cuong (1916 – 1990)
Title of work: Paysage à la pagode Chua Thay
Year of creation: Around 1940-1950
Medium: Lacquer
Dimensions: 99×200 cm
Starting price: 12,000 – 15,000 EUR
Provenance: From Mr. René Jolly, Director of the Department of Cadastre
and Geography of Indochina, Nam Định province, Tonkin.
It must be said that this is a beautiful and precious work by Pham Duc Cuong. It’s just a pity that it was “warped and cracked” (according to the auction house). A large crack running almost across the entire surface of the painting gave the painting a very good estimate. If the warping and large cracks can be fixed, this will be a beautiful, precious and rare painting.
Pham Duc Cuong is the author of the book “Lacquer Technique” famous in Vietnam. But probably only few people notice that he audited at the Indochina Fine Arts College like Nguyen Duc Toan, Pham Viet Song… And his lacquer technique is as famous as other lacquer painters’ of the time.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a work appears that has caused a lot of curiosity because the artist’s name seems strange but turns out to be very familiar.
3. Lot 213
Author: Nguyen Van Ty (1917- 1992)
Title of work: L’Île de Catba – Jonques dans la baie d’Along.
Year of creation: Around 1944
Material: Lacquer. Multicolored and gold lacquered wooden screen with six panels,
signed lower right and dated with Roman numerals 1944. Dimensions of each panel: 100×32.5 cm. Total: 100×195 cm. (Good condition, minor wear).
Dimensions: 100×195 cm / 100 × (32.5 × 6 panels)
Starting price: 80,000 – 120,000 EUR
Provenance: Purchased by Mr. L, pilot of Hai Phong station, stationed from 1952 to 1955
for 5,000 piastres from Ets Hu’ng – Loi, 44 boulevard de l’Amiral Courbet,
Hai Phong on February 3, 1955.
In fact, considering the colour palette of blue and yellow (lemon slightly green), the visual style is similar to Nguyen Van Ty’s compositions, so comparison is very likely by him. It’s just a little worried because the signature (through the photo) seems to be scratched by some sharp object. But the signature in capital letters and the year of creation in Roman numerals are some of the identifying signs of artist Nguyen Van Ty’s paintings.
4. Lot 162
Artist: Nguyen Tien Chung (1914- 1976)
Title of work: Les quatre saisons – The Four Seasons
Year of creation: Around 1943
Medium: Silk, Dimensions: 70×80 cm
Estimate: 20,000 – 30,000 EUR
Provenance: From the collection of General Treasurer MX, Indochina Bank.
Passed down in the same family since the 1940s.
The surface of this silk painting seems to be not in very good condition (according to the auction house). The painting has not been signed, although it was exhibited in 1943 at the Unique Salon. The painting depicts young women, goats and confederate rose. This motif reminds us of the painting “Elegant Young Women”, lacquer, 1940 by Hoang Tich Chu. Basically, without some of the above weaknesses, this painting is worth collecting because of its rarity.
In addition, reasonable lots to collect include 166 – silk painting by Tran Duy Liem (1914-1994); lot 17 – floral still life oil painting by Jean Vo Lang (1921-2005) as one of the flower themes different from Le Pho’s style should be collected because of its popularity; lot 108 – synthetic oil painting on paper by Inguimberty has a very lovely price with the theme of our homeland Vietnam…
Artist: Trần Duy Liêm (1914-1994)
Artwork: The musician
Medium: Ink and colour on silk
Dimensions: 52.5×37.5 cm
Estimate: 2000 – 4000 EUR
Artist: Jean Võ Lăng
Artwork: Day of Mother
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 55×46.5 cm
Estimate: 3000 – 5000 EUR
Artist: Joseph Inguimberty (1869-1971)
Artwork: Coming back from the fields
Medium: Painting on paper
Dimensions: 39×64 cm
Estimate: 4000-6000 EUR
A few things to share before the auction from Viet Art View.
Written by Viet Art View
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