Famous painter's work to be auctioned in Singapore this month

Hanoi (VNA) – The painting Vietnamese Lady by late Vietnamese painter Le Pho (1907-2001) will be part of the Hong Kong-based Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Auction which is slated for August 28 in Singapore.

The 28.5x 23.5cm ink and gouache on silk was created in 1938.

Estimated by the auction house at 445,000-720,000 USD, it is predicted to be under the hammer at 1.3-1.5 million USD.

Insiders said as the flight route to Singapore has been cleared after the COVID-19 pandemic, many Vietnamese collectors are expected go to the island nation to attend the exhibition of this auction at the Regent Singapore Hotel.

The auction will take place online on the website: sothebys.com.

Born on August 2, 1907, in Hanoi, Le Pho was a prominent painter who developed a successful and prolific career in France, with thousands of artworks to his credit. The images of Vietnamese women in ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) were the painter’s endless inspiration and frequently featured in his works.

Vietnamese women depicted in the early stages of his paintings (1934-45) were often fragile, elegant, and gentle. In the next period, in the 1950s, his oil paintings still put women at the centre but integrated more liberal features.

He is the first Vietnamese artist to have paintings sold for 1 million USD and beyond at public auctions. Some of his typical artworks include The Family Life which fetched over 1 million USD, Nude which was sold at 1.4 million USD, and A Self-Portrait In The Forest for 1.052 million USD./.