After much feedback from the bidders about the rare incident in the auction of only one work; after the explanation of technical errors of the Art Research Paris Auction House on March 30, 2023… lots of regrets after the short auction that took a few minutes. A remarkable painting, finally sold at the price of only 200,000 EUR (including fees) equivalent to 6.6 billion VND, which is not worth the price for a typical work in terms of manner, style, and shapes created by painter Nam Sơn (1890-1973) in 1932.
Most recently, on April 5 and 6, 2023, during the 50th anniversary of Sotheby’s Asia, the silk painting “Family in the garden”, 1938 by Lê Phổ (1907-2001) successfully hit the hammer at the level of 2.37 million USD, equivalent to 55.6 billion VND, causing a stir in public.
Before the auction of Art Research Paris and Sotheby’s (5 days apart), Viet Art View asked a few collectors (proper collectors) about their views on collection.
1. The first collector (very long time), experienced in the profession, a longtime and regular customer of auction houses said:
– “I do not bid for Nam Sơn’s “Portrait of my mother” because this painting is difficult to liquidate because of the “private” content, specifically here is a portrait of a specific person of a specific family.”
– “Paintings in the 50 years of Sotheby’s Asia auction are not very special compared to the paintings I used to own. But this auction is important, many people pay attention, so the price may be pushed up. I am both an investor and a seller, so I have to consider carefully.”
Indeed, after the auction, there were a few focus paintings that were pushed too high for their actual value. And most of the remaining paintings are suitable for current values…
2. The second collector, who owns many valuable paintings (in all aspects) by Lê Phổ, Mai Trung Thứ, Vũ Cao Đàm, Lê Thị Lựu, Nguyễn Gia Trí, Lương Xuân Nhị, Phạm Hậu, Trần Văn Cẩn, Nguyễn Sáng… and many other precious paintings of Vietnam share the same thoughts as the first collector about Nam Sơn’s paintings. He even added that “personally, it feel like some kind of an altar picture. Therefore, even if the painting is precious and has a good starting price of 200k EUR, I will not bid for this painting.”
After the auction on April 4 of Sotheby’s, the collector called Viet Art View and said: “Which comrade buys Lê Phổ at that “fierce” price; the price is too high compared to the actual value; a new player perhaps?”
3. The third, more neutral collector said that he also liked the painting “Portrait of my mother”; The collector was prepared to bid and said “if the price is not too sudden (multiple times) then owning this painting is very reasonable in all aspects of history, culture, art. In terms of shaping, the collector considers it beautiful, classic and academic in both style and manner. But in the end, due to a technical error on the part of the auction house, he and several other bidders were unable to bid during the session. Immediately after the auction, he contacted Art Research Paris, they were also really confused about this unfortunate (and unworthy) incident that happened.
Gallery at Indochina Fine Arts College, 1930 with many works and familiar names – the artists who made up the early modern Vietnamese Fine Arts.
In fact, after Sotheby’s auction, there were two streams of opinion. One side is happy that the price of Lê Phổ’s paintings has been pushed up (even though they did not buy them) because it is good to have a high price. Some others (mostly dealers) told each other “That much money can buy many beautiful Indochina paintings”. If you understand the market well, the second opinion is reasonable…
Basically, the higher the price, the more attention is paid to Vietnamese fine arts. The high price will take the art collection to a whole new level. But obviously, how to invest appropriately for “new investors” will need experts in this field. There are still many views that confuse the ancient paintings (fine crafts) of folk artists with the paintings of artists with names, biographies of artistic creation, and valuable works recognized through many years and periods of modern Vietnamese art history.
Going back to the story of “commercial value” that is sometimes not tied to the “actual value” of the work. Not discussing who is the teacher, who is the student, but clearly, these are two great names of Vietnamese Fine Arts in the near-Modern period. In particular, Lê Phổ was so famous for many paintings that cost millions of dollars. So, for what reasons should the 55.6 billion painting be bought and the 6.6 billion painting, why is it that few people like it? This answer needs more arguments and analysis at a deeper academic level than in the framework of a small review like this. Viet Art View will mention this issue in the next articles. Hopefully, there will be comments and thoughts from experts to discuss.
After the Art Research Paris auction, a collector – a dear friend of Viet Art View revealed the identity of the buyer of Nam Sơn’s “Portrait of my mother”. The painting will return to its homeland, specifically to Hanoi. This is very happy because the painting of “museum position” has returned to Vietnam. Thus, the chance for the painting to have a well-deserved place in a private or national museum of Vietnam is possible. If the painting will belong somewhere other than Vietnam, we can imagine the answer…
After the auction, Viet Art View also asked a very knowledgeable person in the field and learned that the painting “Family in the garden” by Lê Phổ – the runner-up in terms of price was bought by a Vietnamese, but it is unlikely that he will return to Vietnam. So, in Vietnam, there is still The beauty queen – “Portrait of Miss Phượng” by Mai Trung Thứ (3.1 million USD) being kept at the owner’s home.
Written by Viet Art View
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