Portrait by late Vietnamese painter sold for record 3.1 million USD

The painting "Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong" (Photo: www.sggp.org.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) -  An oil painting on canvas entitled Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong (Portraitof Mademoiselle Phuong) by late painter Mai Trung Thu has sold at an auctionfor the highest price paid for Vietnamese art.

Offered in the auction Beyond Legends: Modern Art Evening Sale of Sotheby'sHong Kong, the painting was sold for a record price of 3.1 million USD onApril 18.

With a guide price of 500,000 USD, the price of the painting eventuallyreached 2.573 million USD. After taxes and fees were added, the price totalled 3.1million USD.

This is more than double the previous highest valued auction sale which thepainting Khoa Than (Nude) by LePho, which sold for 1.4 million USD.

Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong was painted by Mai Trung Thu(1906-1980) in 1930, when he was an art teacher at Lycée Français de Hue (aFrench High School in Hue).

Mai Trung Thu is pictured in 1964 (Photo: sothebys.com)

As one of the first artists who graduated from the first course of the FineArts College of Indochina, or Ecole des Beaux-Art de l'Indochine, in Hanoi hewas classified as one of the four most renowned Vietnamese artists basedin France, together with Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam and Le Luu.

Hisreputation was closely associated with silk paintings on the subjects of women,children and everyday life, showcasing typical Asian culture in theearly 20th century. This painting, beautifully rendered in the oil medium,is exceptionally rare as the artist devoted himself to painting on silk formost of his career.

Accordingto Sotheby’s description, “a monumental, yet remarkably tender and intimate,Mai Trung Thu’s Portrait of MademoisellePhuong stands as the most significant and largest painting by theartist to be offered at auction… Poignantly, the beguiling portrait alsocaptures Mai Thu’s deep admiration of its sitter, a noble lady rumoured to bethe artist’s love interest”.

Thepainting was first exhibited at the Fine Arts College of Indochina in1930, before travelling to Paris to attend the prestigious 1931 Paris ColonialExhibition, announcing the painter’s entrance into the European art world.

“Mai Thu’s Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong is oneof the most significant and recognisable masterpieces in Vietnamese arthistory, often likened to Le Pho’s L’ageheaureux (The Happy Age). Capturing the lyrical and romantic qualitiestypical of the early oil paintings of the École’s students, both works werewell-received at the 1931 Exposition,” wrote Sotheby's on its website. 

Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong wasalso featured in the iconic film TheScent of the Green Papaya, a Vietnamese-language film directed by TranAnh Hung in France in 1993./.

VNA