The work “Deer in the forest” of artist Phạm Hậu
In Eastern and Western culture, the image of deer symbolizes luck, fortune and prosperity. The Chinese believe that deer are born from the halo of gems, bringing good things. In Chinese, the word “deer” has the same sound as the word “wealth”, so deer has a symbolic meaning of prosperity and longevity. Deer is a symbol of wealth, this originates from the way the word “deer” in Chinese is read like the word “income”, meaning money enter the pocket (according to Wikipedia). In Western countries, deer appear in Greek mythology along with the gods.
Part of the Eastern cultural flow, Vietnamese artists such as Phạm Hậu, Nguyễn Tiến Chung, Hoàng Tích Chù and Trần Phúc Duyên all have many works on the theme of deer. This subject is popular, loved, and suitable for the contemporary aesthetics of society.
In fact, deer and goldfish, in addition to their symbolic meaning of wealth and fortune, are also favored by artists because of their beauty.
Detail of the work “Deer in the forest” of artist Phạm Hậu
Deer have fine, slender bodies with two pairs of long legs. The pair of antlers on the head with beautiful small branches give deer a unique proud beauty. In addition, the big bewildered eyes and innocent, gentle, and cute appearance are absolute plus points, inspiring artists.
Deer are often seen in diverse compositions, either standing alone, in pairs, or in groups; or drinking water by the stream; or standing on a carpet of leaves under the shadows of towering trees, rich and diverse vegetation…
Detail of the work “Deer in the forest” of artist Phạm Hậu
Just by describing that, we could easily imagine a scene in the forest that is both majestic and poetic. Not only that, since lacquer painting has reached a new level in terms of materials, deer theme has become even closer and more closely related, and are often used by lacquer artists as inspiration.
The development of lacquer painting from the Indochina Fine Arts College seems to fit with this theme. With the unique nature and advantage of lacquer when expressing rich, deep, splendid layers… delicately conveying layers of color, artists could freely search and explore paint quality in visual art.
Detail of the work “Deer in the forest” of artist Phạm Hậu
On May 22, 2024, at Aguttes’ auction there will be the lacquer work Deer in the forest, size 130 × 80.6 cm, created by artist Phạm Hậu around 1935-1940. This is a typical painting of deer and fish motifs of the pre-1954 period.
With an estimated price of 60 to 90 thousand euros, it can be considered reasonable given the artist’s name, familiar subject, favorite material and the selling time is also showing signs of improvement.
Let’s look forward to Aguttes’ auction at 2:30 p.m. (France time) and 8:30 p.m. (Vietnam time) with the auction online on DROUOT.com.
Viet Art View will share the results of the auction after the official news from Aguttes.
Written by Viet Art View
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