Auction [53] Asian Painters
China, Japan and Vietnam

Tiếng Việt

This 53^rd auction by the department, dedicated to Asian Modern Art, reflects the support of Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, an expert in the work of Vietnamese and Chinese artists. Indeed, these generations deserve greater recognition: their rediscovery in recent years is part of a growing trend toward the appreciation of Asian modern art, which is attracting increasing interest from both collectors and institutions. 

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…

Vietnamese Modern Art

The Vietnamese Odalisques of Mai Trung Thứ

In the 1970s, the current owners purchased this painting by Mai Trung Thứ from the Moyon-Avenard Gallery, a true Nantes institution since 1895. Now closed, this institution represented pioneering artists such as Bernard Buffet, Georges Mathieu, and Yves Brayer. These avant-garde artists shared the gallery’s space with artists from the Indochina School of Fine Arts, such as Mai Trung Thứ, who was introduced by Louise-Georgette Houguet and Alain Moyon, both of whom were then directors of the institution.

Until 2002, this family-run gallery was home to four generations of art dealers and hosted a long series of solo exhibitions.

A necklace that blends femininity and elegance, the key to understanding…

With Le Collier, Vũ Cao Đàm revisits one of the most universal subjects in the history of painting. As a learned painter, he plays with the codes and symbols of the traditional iconography of the Virgin and Child to create a modern and deeply Vietnamese interpretation of this theme.

Drawing on the motif of the architectural niche—a device cherished by Renaissance masters such as Botticelli that opens up a view of a landscape—it is through the motif of the necklace that he demonstrates great originality here. In 1944—one of the most significant years for his art—this iconographic mastery enabled Vũ Cao Đàm to achieve a perfect composition, carried by the excellence of his brushwork.

While the great masters of the 15th and 16th centuries depicted the Infant Jesus wearing a coral necklace—whose red color evokes the blood of Christ and foreshadows the Passion—Vũ Cao Đàm reverses the roles, having the mother wear a jade necklace, the ultimate symbol of femininity and refinement in Vietnamese tradition.

The child’s gesture as he reaches for it catches the eye. It thus evokes the tenderness and innocence characteristic of that suspended moment in time known as childhood, far removed from the symbolic gravity attached to coral in the Christian tradition. This necklace thus becomes the key to the painting: it embodies the dialogue between East and West, an artistic and intellectual approach that would guide the artist throughout his entire body of work.

Lê Phổ: The Last Bouquets on Silk Bloom Before the Findlay Period

Typical of the Romanet period (circa 1946–1962), these Young Women Arranging a Bouquet mark the culmination of a decade of artistic renewal for the artist. The composition, which features figures arranged around a large bouquet, would be revisited for many years, particularly in the increasingly large formats of the subsequent Findlay period. In 1963, the American Wally Findlay offered him a virtually exclusive contract, which opened up the U.S. market to Lê Phổ and led him toward larger formats and oil painting on canvas. The work thus belongs to the end of his period of painting on silk, as gouache and oil began to take a more prominent role.

This double portrait is quickly overshadowed by what appears to be the true subject: the arrangement of the bouquet, which unfolds at the center of the painting. The woman in the background, lost in thought, seems distracted, while the other delicately picks up a sprig. Blended colors give way to sharp contrasts—a bolder palette inherited from Matisse and Bonnard, supported by powerful brushstrokes.

Caroline in the Garden: An Intimate Work by Victor Tardieu Before Indochina

After studying for two years at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, Victor Tardieu chose to enroll at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1899. He returned to the École des Beaux-Arts a year later, thanks to the support of Léon Bonnat. In 1902, his painting Work earned him the First Prize at the Salon des Artistes Français, an award that enabled him to travel throughout Europe.

In 1920, he received the Indochina Prize, before founding the Indochina School of Fine Arts in Hanoi, where he served as the first director: an institution that would mark the birth of modern Vietnamese art.

But Caroline au jardin reveals an entirely different facet of his work. Painted in 1913, this canvas dates from the early stages of his career, when Tardieu, trained in academic art, was assimilating the lessons of the modern French masters. The subject is simple and intimate: his wife, Caroline, dozing in a garden chair. Far removed from the grand compositions of his formative years, the artist paints from life, outdoors, with a swift and vibrant brushstroke that seeks to capture the moment—the light filtered through the foliage and the carefree ease of a moment’s rest—in the manner of an Impressionist.

Nguyễn Gia Trí (1908–1993): Drawings by a Master of Lacquer Art

At the age of 20, Nguyễn Gia Trí enrolled at the Indochinese School of Fine Arts. Drawn to lacquer art from an early age, he was encouraged by Victor Tardieu to continue his training in the lacquer workshop opened by Joseph Inguimberty. After graduating in 1936, he established himself, through his numerous exhibitions and the reputation of his studio, as the father of modern Vietnamese lacquer art.

Before beginning a lacquer piece, Gia Trí sketches out the design, colors, and composition on paper. Tracing this sketch allowed him to achieve great precision while preserving the spontaneity of the line when transferring it to the lacquer. He applied this method to both his abstract and figurative works. These studies, true works of art in their own right, are highly sought after today. In 2018, to mark the 110th anniversary of his birth, the Hanoi Museum of Fine Arts exhibited 40 of them, drawn from the collections of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts. Their dimensions range from 15 x 11 cm to 67 x 106 cm. These works are a beautiful testament to his technique and talent as a draftsman, without which he would not be considered “one of the brightest stars of modern lacquer art in Vietnam,” to quote the critic Thái Bá Vân.

Auction [53] in preparation | Modern Asian Art: China and Vietnam

Public Exhibition
Thursday, October 29, through Wednesday, November 4, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (except on weekends)
Guided tour on Monday, November 2, at 11:30 a.m.
Register for the lecture

Auction
Thursday, November 5, at 2:30 p.m.

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
+ 33 6 63 58 21 82