Ham Nghi (1871-1944) was the 8th king of the Nguyen dynasty. After the imperial city of Hue was lost in 1885, he was detained by the French colonialists in 1888 and exiled in Algiers the following year. During the years of exile, the king learned painting and sculpture, following the art movements of impressionism and post-impressionism. He created 91 paintings along with a number of sculptures.
The oil painting was created in 1908, depicting the countryside landscape near his home in Algiers. In 1926, the work was displayed at the Mantelet-Colette Weil gallery in Paris. Meanwhile, the 500-page book was published in the Vietnamese language last month, compiled by Dr. Amandine Dabat, Ham Nghi’s fifth-generation descendant. It explores the dual identity of the emperor as a patriot and an artist during his exile in France and Algeria./.
