Auction [52] Asian Painters
China, Japan and Vietnam

Tiếng Việt

Once again, several previously unrecorded discoveries have enriched the catalogs raisonné of numerous artists—from great masters such as Vũ Cao Đàm, Mai Trung Thứ, and Lê Phổ to artists with rarer bodies of work, such as Hoàng Tích Chù and Nguyễn Sĩên.

TOP 5:

Lot 4 - Vũ Cao Đàm, Woman and Child, 1946, €375,232

Lot 3 - Mai Trung Thứ, Reading, 1943, €102,336

Lot 5 - Mai Trung Thứ, Motherhood, 1943, €102,336

Lot 10 - Lê Phổ, Pink Peonies, €82,656 

Lot 13 - Mai Trung Thứ, The Writing Lesson, 1943, €78,720

Woman and Child by Vũ Cao Đàm: An Exclusive Account of the Artist's First Solo Exhibition at the Van Ryck Gallery

Among the highlights of the auction was this Woman and Child by Vũ Cao Đàm, which sold for 375,000 euros. Six years ago, at Aguttes’ 24th auction, a work by the artist titled Maternité (of similar dimensions and presented at the same 1946 exhibition) set the artist’s second-highest world record, selling for 271,000 euros.

A recent graduate, Vũ Cao Đàm arrived in France in 1931 and began exhibiting his work at art salons and group exhibitions. Noticed by art critics from his earliest years, he received glowing reviews when he held his first solo exhibition in 1946 at the Van Ryck Gallery in Paris.

Jeanine Auboyer, an associate at the Guimet Museum, wrote at the time:

"Vũ Cao Đàm’s personality is revealed in his decorative compositions, whose typical themes depict figures against a landscape backdrop, in the manner of his beloved Primitives. Here he breaks free from overly rigid traditions, effortlessly creating arabesques and pleasing compositions, and managing to balance the masses of his groupings with a surprising mastery that reveals no trace of effort. And, while the stylization of his figures curiously evokes that of Persian miniatures, his landscapes borrow their perspective and composition from Europe.
The success of the synthesis achieved by Vũ Cao Đàm is indisputable proof of his talent; we know, thanks to the sincerity of his artistic exploration, that it will only continue to grow.¹"

Acquired during this exhibition and kept in the family ever since, this work is now appearing on the market after 80 years in private hands.

1Jeannine Auboyer, “Vũ Cao Đàm,” France Illustration-Le Monde illustré, special issue on Indochina, No. 190, June 4, 1949, reprinted.

Related works:

Mai Trung Thứ,The Remarkable Collection of a Senior French Official, Friend and Patron of the Artist

We should also note the complete dispersal of Captain L.’s collection of works by Mai Trung Thứ.

This collection is the result of a generous and spontaneous act of patronage. While stationed in Indochina before 1940, Reserve Captain L. developed a close friendship with the painter Mai Trung Thứ. In 1943, after several years of service in the region, he returned to France, deeply marked by his experiences in Hanoi and Saigon. Back in Paris, he renewed his friendship with Mai Thứ and resolved to support the artist, who, despite having settled in France seven years earlier after graduating from the Hanoi School of Fine Arts, was still struggling to make a living from his work.

The young officer commissioned an important group of silk paintings, together with a portrait of himself. Through these commissions, he encouraged the little-known artist, then living far from his homeland, to continue painting and enrich his body of work. Following the remarkable success of Romance au clair de lune, the first silk painting from this collection to be offered by Aguttes, which sold for over €500,000 in 2022, the remainder of this exceptional ensemble is now being unveiled for the first time.

Join Hoàng Tích Chù as we discover the magic of lacquer, a living art form

A native of Bac Ninh, Hoàng Tích Chù enrolled at the Indochina School of Fine Arts (Class XII, 1936–1941), where he specialized in the art of lacquer. He then opened his own studio in Hanoi and trained several great lacquer masters of his generation, before joining the school’s faculty after the war. Author of the technical manual …, he was named Master of Lyrical Lacquer Painting. Hoàng Tích Chù was recognized during his lifetime, gaining prominence through numerous exhibitions and winning several national and international awards.

These three large panels immerse the viewer in the majestic natural beauty of northern Vietnam’s mountainous landscapes. Hoàng Tích Chù, whom the painter Alix Aymé counted among those who “discover a new meaning in forms and colors¹,” distinguishes himself from his peers through his use of more vibrant hues. The artist reveals the full magic of a living medium, capable of producing unexpected results, such as when “white only truly becomes white after months or years of exposure².”

Indeed, the black of the first layer of lacquer—by inverting the pictorial values in the manner of a photographic negative—opens up a world where the sky is adorned with gold, the mountains with silver snow, and the trees with an incandescent red... A multitude of gradations and nuances then unfolds—a feat of great technical mastery—evoking a sunset over a landscape brought to life solely by the presence of a few deer.

¹ Alix Aymé, “Lacquer in Indochina and the Hanoi School of Fine Arts,” in Etudes d’Outre-Mer, December 1952.
² Tropiques No. 327, December 1950

Multidisciplinarity in the Work of Nguyễn Siên

Nguyễn Văn Siên, better known as Nguyễn Siên, was born in 1916 in Bến Tre, Kiến Hòa Province. Showing an early talent for drawing and architecture, he graduated from the Gia Định School of Applied Arts in Saigon in 1940. He subsequently joined the 14th graduating class of the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (1940–1945), where he specialised in lacquer painting under the guidance of Joseph Inguimberty (1896–1971).

Auction [53] in preparation | Modern Asian Art: China and Vietnam
November 5, 2026, 2:30 p.m.

We are currently seeking to expand our catalog with works that showcase the talent of these painters who bridged East and West in the early 20th century.

On the one hand, artists trained in both China and Europe, such as Sanyu, Pan Yulin…
And of course, we are also seeking works bearing the following signatures: Nguyễn Gia Trí, Tô Ngọc Vân, Nguyễn Tường Lân, Trần Văn Cẩn, Hoàng Tích Chù, Phạm Quang Hậu, Lê Phổ, Lê Thi Luu, Lê Văn Dệ, Vũ Cao Đàm, Victor Tardieu, Nguyễn Phan Chánh, Nam Sơn, Mai Trung Thu, Lương Xuân Nhị…

A quarterly auction is in the works: do you know the value of your items?

Take advantage of a free and confidential appraisal by our expert, Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, a long-standing leader in this field.
reynier@aguttes.com
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