MILESTONES
Sotheby’s:
– Exhibition “Timeless Souls: Beyond the Voyage” July 11 – 14, 2022 at Park Hyatt Sài Gòn
– Exhibition “The Faraway East: of Dreams and Pursuits” August 14 – 17, 2023 at Park Hyatt Sài Gòn on the occasion of Sotheby’s 50th anniversary in Asia.
Aguttes:
On the occasion of the 100th Anniversary for the establishment of Indochina Fine Arts College (Việt Nam Fine Arts University today), researcher Charllotte Aguttes-Reynier, art director of Aguttes, had a launch for the book “Modern art in Indochina” on January 11, 2024 at Việt Nam Fine Arts University and January 16, 2024 at Vy Gallery, Hồ Chí Minh City.
Christie’s:
Organized the event “A collector’s journey” as Christie’s first presence in Việt Nam on March 14, 2024 at Quang San Art Museum and March 15, 2024 at space of A&V Art Collection in Hà Nội.
Millon:
– In the middle of 2023, beginning to prepare licenses with specialized governing agencies to be allowed to legally auction in Việt Nam
– Officially opened a representative office in Hà Nội, Việt Nam – Millon Vietnam, February 2024
– April 20, 2024 (planned) will held an auction under official management from Millon
Based on the above information, Millon is currently the only auction house that will organize an international auction in Việt Nam.
Other auction houses such as Bonhams have also sent senior experts to work with a number of organizations to seek connections in Việt Nam.
Each auction house will calculate for itself a suitable strategy for the appearance of its first activities in the Vietnamese market. These are positive signs showing that the Vietnamese art market is really being paid attention to and has had practical activities here.
ABOUT THE EVENT “A COLLECTOR’S JOURNEY” OF CHRISTIE’S IN VIỆT NAM
This is the first official presence of Christie’s in Việt Nam, held at Quang San Art Museum (Hồ Chí Minh City) and space of A&V Art Collection (Hà Nội). The event has the title “A Collector’s Journey”. On Christie’s side, there are representatives:
– Mr. Dexter How – Vice President, Senior Expert of Southeast Asian Art | 20/21 Century Art, Christie’s Asia.
– Ms. Prapavadee Sophonpanich – General Director of CLMVT, in charge of Việt Nam, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
– Ms. Crystal Thao Lam – consultant in Việt Nam.
The significance of the event “A Collector’s Journey” can be seen as the launch of Christie’s to the collectors community in Việt Nam. In the future, there will be contribution activities in the art market in Việt Nam.
Mr. Dexter How – Vice President, Senior Expert of Southeast Asian Art | 20/21 Century Art, Christie’s Asia.
Collector Hàn Ngọc Vũ
During the event, there were meetings, conversations, sharing and connections about the art collection process of some collectors. First, Mr. Dexter How introduced the achievements, charts, and numbers about the value of Vietnamese art auctions. The most prominent among them is the auction of works in Mr. Tuấn Phạm’s collection with the value of 12 million USD. This introduction was presented by Mr. Dexter How in both meetings in Hồ Chí Minh City and Hà Nội.
March 14, at Quang San Art Museum, Hồ Chí Minh City, in addition to Mr. Dexter How’s introduction is Ms. Prapavadee Sophonpanich’s presentation; followed by a conversation with Thai collector – Mr. Tira Vanichtheeranont, who has collected more than 2,000 Vietnamese works. He shared about the process of researching, collecting and the love for Vietnamese art.
At the meeting on March 15, at A&V Art Collection, Hà Nội, after introductions from Christie’s experts, there was a very interesting sharing discussion from collectors Hàn Ngọc Vũ, Lê Quang Khải, Phùng Tất Thắng and Adrian Jones, British. Four collectors shared the process of forming the collections as well as plans and roadmaps related to time, finance, and enthusiasm, thereby, inspiring art lovers and young collectors. The precious similarity is that they all have the same perspective on collecting. First, there must be a love for art, then there is the process of learning, adding knowledge, searching for works, and accumulating finances for this passion. Finally, spread the positive values of beauty and humanity of art to relatives and society.
COLLECTOR HÀN NGỌC VŨ – FROM A&V ART COLLECTION SHARES
With A&V Art Collection, it is the desire to contribute to connecting collectors with other elements in the art collection ecosystem, and the desire to encourage society to spend more resources for learning and preserving the country’s cultural, historical and fine arts values through the practice of art collection. The event also introduced the new name and logo of A&V Art Collection.
There are ways to describe the characteristics of the collection, but from Mr. Hàn Ngọc Vũ’s perspective, the distinctions which the collection A&V has built include:
Autonomy: This is a highly personal collection in terms of the process of building a collection strategy, both the practice of collecting and the construction of space for the collection, including physical space to display objects and documents, and space in computers to store data. There are collectors who will hire people to search and buy works, or seek “advice” from a consulting company, someone with rich experience in building a strategy for a collection, but A&V manages itself.
Living: Meaning that the collection always accompanies the collector in the collector’s living space which is also the living space of the collection. When designing a residence, it includes designing spaces, walls, corners… for pre-planned works. Works or collectibles reflect the thoughts, feelings, lifestyle, life experiences… of the collector. And the collection continues to grow as long as the collector is present.
Aesthetics, tradition and nostalgia: In its collection, A&V has stamps, desk clocks, sculptures from both Europe and Việt Nam, and certainly, most importantly, Vietnamese painting works. The collection is a personal record of the stages of social development that the collector has been impressed with through personal experiences from 1960 to the present.
Four collectors sharing about their collection’s forming process
From the left: Mr Adrian Jones, British, Mr Hàn Ngọc Vũ, Mr Lê Quang Khải, Mr Phùng Tất Thắng.
In addition, the collector also read Vietnamese literature books from the early 20th century, and also Russian and French literature to learn more about the history and characteristics of each period. The collection has a highly traditional aesthetic, with little focus on works with novel forms or media (performance art, installation art…), or paintings that are too strange (even trendy) in form.
A&V’s collecting journey is always obsessed by curiosity, we want to understand what really happened in history and society; how to preserve evidence of what happened through collected works; and how to connect people with the same interests or will have the same interests, to share with each other, and more importantly, with the younger generations, knowledge and experiences in a humble way.
Guests in the meeting
For example, some typical works that A&V has collected and we love due to both aesthetics, humanistic meaning, as well as the artist:
“Read the official dispatch” 1960 by artist Nguyễn Trọng Kiệm. The work gives us a humane perspective of the artist on the period of illiteracy eradication in the late 1950s through a sincere view of a farmer, a local official and his family.
“Young women of the capital going for resistance war” by artist Lương Xuân Nhị, created around 1960, reflects the rural scene during the war with an optimistic and aesthetic view.
“White reed” or “Purple national guard” by artist Lưu Công Nhân, created around the 1950s with a bright perspective on the difficult resistance war with the image of a young soldier who loved life.
“L’écharpe bleue” by artist Mai Trung Thứ, created in 1942 and was in the collection of King Hàm Nghi while he lived in Algeria.
“Les Pommes” by artist Victor Tardieu, created in 1912. He was the founder of the Indochina Fine Arts College, making an important contribution to the formation and development of modern Vietnamese fine arts. The work was created in 1912, helping us understand what level he was at before he won the Prix de l’Indochine and went to Việt Nam.
Mr Jonathan Baker, Director of Unesco Việt Nam, Ms Thạch Lê Anh, Mr Hàn Ngọc Vũ.
“Read the official dispatch” 1960 by artist Nguyễn Trọng Kiệm. The work gives us a humane perspective of the artist on the period of
illiteracy eradication in the late 1950s through a sincere view of a farmer, a local official and his family.
“White reed” or “Purple national guard” by artist Lưu Công Nhân, created around the 1950s with a bright perspective
on the difficult resistance war with the image of a young soldier who loved life.
Written by Viet Art View
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