T he Asian Art Department at Sotheby’s Paris has long featured twentieth-century Vietnamese art, and we are delighted to present more than thirty works of Vietnamese art in this auction. Highlights include two Vu Cao Dam oil paintings from an important European private collection, which have been held by the family for more than half a century and are appearing at auction for the first time. The other objects include paintings, prints, lacquerware, furniture, and sculptures, and the mediums highlight the artists’ skilful blend of Eastern and Western aesthetics. These artists often use the techniques and materials of European painting to depict traditional themes and subjects. Collectors and art lovers worldwide have appreciated the distinctive charm of this approach.
巴黎蘇富比亞洲藝術部門長期致力於推廣二十世紀越南藝術。本次拍賣誠獻三十多件越南藝術代表作 。亮點拍品為兩幅武高談的油畫作品，來自歐洲重要私人收藏，其家族珍藏超過半世紀，本次拍賣首次亮相。其他拍品包羅繪畫、名師版畫、漆器及家俱、雕塑等。媒材的多樣性正是彰顯出藝術家糅合東西方美學的精湛技藝。他們巧用歐洲作畫技法及媒材，同時刻畫傳統藝術題材和概念，創造出嶄新獨特的魅力，深得全球藏家和藝術愛好者欣賞喜愛。
Vu Cao Dam’s prolific creative life spanned sculpture, painting, and printmaking. He began his career with sculpture, but he came to focus on oil painting in his later years. In the late 1940s, he moved to France’s Côte d’Azur. He lived with his family in Vence at the villa Les Heures Claires, located near the Matisse Chapel and Marc Chagall’s home. The landscapes and people of southern France gradually influenced his artistic style.
武高談一生創作頗豐，包羅雕塑、油畫、石版畫等。他從藝之初以創作雕塑為主，後期則專注於油畫創作。 武氏於1940年代末移居至法國蔚藍海岸，與家人居住在旺斯城一棟名為「明媚時光」別墅中。藝術家亨利．馬蒂斯設計的教堂和馬克．夏加爾的住所近在咫尺。南法風光和人文風情逐漸地影響到其創作風格。
The tradition of Vietnamese lacquer painting is more than 2,000 years old, dating as far back as the Ly dynasty in the 11th century. The art form can be traced to the Chinese dynastic powers that governed Vietnam over parts of its history. While the material was historically used in palaces and temples, during the early twentieth century, artists reached new heights in the medium. Their embrace of lacquer as an expressive form led to its Golden Age in the 1930s and 1940s. Lacquer painting fuses the desire for a beautiful life with the craft of painting to convey the aesthetic essence of Vietnam.
越南漆畫源遠流長，有超過二千年歷史，最早可追溯至十一世紀李朝，亦可溯源自中國王朝勢力統治越南疆土的時期。雖然該材質自古以來廣泛用於宮廷和寺廟上，但到了二十世紀初，這種媒介才作為一種藝術表現形式廣被接受，創出新高度，更在1930年代和1940年代達到了黃金時代。漆畫將對美好生活嚮往與繪畫工藝加以融合，傳達了越南的美學本質。
Renowned for his masterful innovations and unparalleled technical dexterity, Pham Hau was a pioneering lacquer artist who stood at the pinnacle of Vietnam’s modern art movement. Well-versed in Chinese and Western artistic principles and philosophies, he expertly blended the essence of the two. His landscape compositions are poetic and profound. His distinctive talent and superb technique stem from his reverence and appreciation for nature and beauty.
范厚以高超的創新能力和無以倫比的嫻熟技藝聞名遐邇，他是漆畫藝術的先鋒，也是越南現代藝術運動的巨擘。范氏通曉中西方藝術的原則和哲理，揉合兩者之精髓，其風景構圖總是詩意淋漓，意蘊悠長，當中的非凡造詣和超卓的工藝源於他對美、對大自然的敬畏和欣賞。
