The 28th sale of "Peintres d'Asie, Œuvres majeures," opens the 2021 calendar for French auction house Aguttes. On March 8, at 11am in Neuilly-sur-Seine, West of Paris, a total of 30 works, hand-picked by expert Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier, will be presented - all curated by painters who came to France at the beginning of the 20th century.
This selection bears witness to the talent of artists such as Lê Phổ, Vu Cao Dam, Mai Trung Thu, Trung Phuc Duyen or Alix Aymé. Their works were at the genesis of a new art, imbued with the richness of traditional Asian arts.
These former students of the Indochina School of Fine Arts will be honored in sometimes unexpected registers. Thus, two paintings on silk by Le Pho depict the seabed. This theme is extremely rare in the artist's work. The fish, often present in Asian culture, are seen in pairs. They evoke marriage and marital bliss, while the koi carp symbolizes wealth and success. With a skilful gesture, Le Pho depicts the subtle transparency of the fins and breathes an aerial movement into the algae.
Lot 3 | Le Pho (1907-2001), Trois poissons
Ink and color on silk, signed lower right
Dimensions: 9 1/8 x 11 5/8 in.
Estimate: €50,000 - 80,000
Lot 2 | Le Pho (1907-2001), Quatre poissons
Ink and color on silk, signed lower left
Dimensions: 9 x 11 5/8 in.
Estimate: €50,000 - 80,000
A magnificent work by Mai Thu, all in restraint, will also be unveiled in a delicate and intimate scene whose accessories, the lacquered wooden box and jewellery decorated with jade, mark the painter's attachment to his Sino-Vietnamese origins. The composition, on the other hand, betrays his Western influences and the result presented to us today will undoubtedly arouse the interest of many collectors and amateurs.
Lot 1 | Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980), Le coffret à bijoux, 1960
Ink and color on silk, signed and dated upper right
In the original frame, made by the artist
Dimensions: 18 1/4 x 23 3/4 in.
Estimate: €200,000 - 250,000
Lot 8 | Le Pho (1907-2001), Rudbeckias et eucalyptus dans un vase à pied large
Oil on masonite, signed lower right
Dimensions: 23 15/16 x 14 7/8 in.
Estimate: €60,000 - 100,000
Lot 9 | Le Pho (1907-2001), Fleurs de printemps dans un vase à pied
Oil on masonite, signed lower right
Dimensions: 36 1/4 x 23 5/8 in
Estimate: €35,000 - 50,000
In this floral register, we will also present the work Glaïeuls by Vu Cao Dam, who here magnifies his subject with the finesse that ink on silk allows.
Lot 7 | Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000), Glaïeuls, circa 1940
Ink and color on silk, signed lower right
Dimensions: 23 5/8 x 17 5/8 in.
Estimate: €40,000 - 60,000
Lot 5 | Le Pho (1907-2001), Maternité circa 1940-1960
Oil, ink and color on silk, signed lower right
Dimensions: 25 1/2 x 15 3/4 in.
Estimate: €40,000 - 60,000
With Maternité, Lê Phổ offers us, thanks to a delicate work on silk, a composition imbued with softness and created in the 1950s, testimony to a pivotal period in his work. This is followed by two works illustrating his so-called Findlay period, the name of the eponymous gallery that represented the artist for many years on the other side of the Atlantic. Lê Phổ sublimates here the art of floral composition, his favorite subject, by his virtuoso mastery of oil painting according to the Western method.
He expresses his admiration for the maternal figure in the painting, depicted with an almost religious gentleness.
Lot 10 | Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000), Maternité, 1978
Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, titled on the reverse
Dimensions: 10 7/8 x 9 in.
Estimate: €35,000 - 50,000
Finally, going back to a more traditional theme, Vu Cao Dam raises with great modernity and in a more western style a magnificent rooster in all the colors.
Lot 13 | Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000), Coq
Oil on panel, signed lower left
Dimensions: 21 9/16 x 18 in.
Estimate: €20,000 - 30,000
We will also return to the subject of childhood, dear to Mai Thu, with a charming and tender performance entitled Brother and Sisters.
Lot 11 | Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980), Frères et sœurs, 1969
Ink and color on silk, signed and dated lower left, titled and dated on reverse. In its original frame made by the artist.
Dimensions: 4 1/2 x 13 in.
Estimate: €30,000 - 50,000
Moreover, in the pure tradition of Vietnamese arts, a lacquer of great finesse by the artist Tran Phuc Duyen will transport us into a marvelous dreamlike landscape.
Lot 4 | Tran Phuc Duyen (1923-1993), Biches, 1949
Lacquer, signed and dated lower right
Dimensions: 19 1/4 x 20 7/8 in.
Estimate: €18,000 - 20,000
This ancestral technique, which is the foundation of Vietnam's cultural identity and arts heritage, is praised by French artist Alix Aymé. She brings before our eyes in this sale on March 8, one of her wonderful creations of which she has the secret and featuring a beautiful young blonde woman. In addition to this medium that she taught in Hanoi, the artist excelled in painting on silk, which she also offers us here a work.
Lot 17 | Alix Aymé (1894-1989), Personnages dans la jungle
Ink and color on silk, signed lower left
Dimensions: 23 1/4 x 13 3/4 in.
Estimate: €20,000 - 30,000
This exhibition takes place until March 5, by appointment only.
Auction Details:
Auction house: Aguttes
Sale: Peintres d'Asie, Œuvres majeures
Date: March 8, 2021 | 11am (GMT+1 Paris Time) / 6pm (GMT+8 Hong Kong Time)
Venue: 164 bis avenue Charles-de-Gaulle, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France
Preview: Please refer to the online catalog for more details