On the afternoon of May 27, 2023, in Bonhams’ Modern & Contemporary Art and Southeast Asian Art auction, lot 57 is an artwork by Nguyễn Phan Chánh (1892-1984).
Name of the painting: Retour au village – Back to the village (town), 1955, signed Ng. Phan-chánh, date 8-1955; signed and dated March 24, 1959 on the back; ink and color on silk; 85×63 cm (33½ × 24¾ in). Provenance: Miklós Rév’s collection, purchased directly from the artist in 1959 in Việt Nam.
Photo of the artwork on the website of the auction house
Currently, many silk paintings by Nguyễn Phan Chánh (and a few other artists) are copied (version 1/1) for many reasons. Therefore, every time a work of Nguyễn Phan Chánh is auctioned, it takes a long time for collectors to research.
Documentation about the painting reads: “… ‘Back to the village’ was formerly in the collection of Miklós Rév, the famous Hungarian photographer, born in 1906 in Sátoraljaújhely and died in Budapest in 1998. Miklós Rév started his career as a photographer in 1923. In 1957, he was the president of the Hungarian Photographers Association, he visited Hanoi in 1959. His photographs during this time give an realistic perspective of life in the capital more than 60 years ago. During his trip, he met painter Nguyễn Phan Chánh, whom he greatly respected, he described Nguyễn Phan Chánh as a modest man, wearing glasses and had a beard (in the book “Vietnamese Art”/ L’Art du Viet-nam, co-authored with journalist Imre Patkó).
Photo of the artwork at the exhibition
“Back to the village” was purchased directly from the artist in 1959, at the same time with the work “Planting rice” (Cf. Sotheby’s on March 31, 2019), and then left to descendants, the current owner.
On the back of the painting, we can see Nguyễn Phan Chánh’s writing and signature, as well as the place and date: “Hanoi March 24, 1959…”
In fact, this painting was sold at Bonhams Paris on December 14, 2022 for 32,000 EUR. For some reasons, the painting was sold again on May 27, 2023 at a hammer price of 271,000 USD (including tax, converted to USD for convenience) equivalent to 6.5 billion dong.
Thus, after only 5 months, the painting has reached a price of nearly 7 times, despite the global economic depression.
Before the auction, collector Hàn Ngọc Vũ, a dear friend of Viet Art View, was very interested in this painting. He shared, he was very interested in the story of “Back to the village”, a painting with the meaning of reunion and happiness. The humanity is very clearly shown from the shaping of the character’s gesture to the historical context of that period…
After discussing with Viet Art View about the originality, historical value, artistic value, and visual value of “Back to the village”, collector Hàn Ngọc Vũ decided to bid. He and his wife flew to Hong Kong to attend the auction.
After seeing the work in person, carefully examining the surface of the painting, collector Hàn Ngọc Vũ was very happy because the painting is beautiful, and emotional. But, he was disturbed by the silk’s surface, which after nearly 70 years had been relatively degraded. He carefully considered, consulted with experts and seeing the need for meticulous restoration and a lot of time for this. Certainly, that will be a significant expense.
Because of the above concerns, although he really loved “Back to the village”, when in the auction, seeing the price go up, he decided to stop bidding so that his mind and energy could be spent on other works.
The little, interesting story surrounding Nguyễn Phan Chánh’s silk painting shows that owning a valuable work is not easy. There needs to be a lot of understanding and discussing, sincerity, frankness…
Collector Hàn Ngọc Vũ hasn’t had the chance to own this work, but he is still happy because Nguyễn Phan Chánh’s “Back to the village” will “back to Việt Nam”…
Photos of the artwork at the exhibition:
Written by Viet Art View
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