Lê Phổ

Mandarin ducks and lotus is a spectacular and exceedingly rare silk masterpiece that was painted during the pinnacle of Lê Phổ’s career. This magnificent work highlights the artist’s strong affinity to Chinese culture and aesthetics that have historically influenced Vietnamese culture for many years. In 1934, Lê Phổ made a pivotal trip to Beijing, one of the cultural

capitals of China and was awarded an opportunity to study firsthand the wealth of Chinese art tradition. One of his early achievements as a young artist was the perfecting his technique and innovations in silk painting. Lê Phổ favoured painting on Japanese pongee silk glued on a board, using gouache and ink to render his subjects. His light touch and finely executed brushwork imbue his works with a subtle brilliance in texture and colour; the works’ gentle elegance embodies the new heights of sophistication and artistry Lê Phổ reached in the medium.

Mandarin ducks and lotus features a pair of mandarin ducks swimming around the lotus from an aerial perspective. Lê Phổ depicts the auspicious mandarin ducks as a couple – the duck with crimson red feathers is a male, while the duck with grey feathers is a female. Mandarin ducks are traditionally symbols of love and devotion as the birds are known to stay together as a couple for their entire lives. The lovely blossoming lotus and leaves dominate the left section of the painting; as with traditional Chinese painting compositions, the upper part of the painting is left empty, allowing the viewer to draw their eyes and focus on the Mandarin ducks nestled quietly amongst the lotus leaves.

The subject of numerous folk songs, odes and poems, the lotus flower is an important symbol in Vietnamese culture, signifying purity, serenity and optimism, as well as purity of body, mind and spirit, in Buddhist literature. The fact that the lotus—which habitually grows in murky waters with fertile alkaline mud—is still able to bear visually dazzling flowers blooming pristinely above the surface, untarnished and incorruptible by earthly impurities is also highly meaningful in Vietnam, and the imagery of the flower is often appropriated to allegorize the resilience and will of the Vietnamese people.

Lê Phổ delineates the forms with soft, impressionistic brushstrokes, a style that he developed as he studied and admired the works of Post-impressionists such a Pierre Bonnard. The painting is tinged with a sense of nostalgia and romance as the artist employs asepia palette for the background. Though the artist uses opaque pigments to paint his subjects, the delicacy of the smooth silk surface enhances the lightness of his strokes, creating an ephemeral quality to the composition. The present lot radiates a mesmerizing sense of tranquility owing to the artist’s harmonious use of colors, gentle touch, and superior brushwork.

Executed in the late of 1930s, this work hails from the period before the artist works primarily to the oil medium. Floral compositions executed with ink and colors on silk rarely surface at auction. The present lot is exceptionally rare as Lê Phổ seldom painted animal subjects, the appearance of mandarin ducks is singular in his entire oeuvre. Executed on an impressive, large scale, the work showcases the artist’s unparalleled technical mastery in handling silk as a medium.

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《鴛鴦戲蓮》彰顯黎譜對中國文化及美學的喜愛，出自創作生涯的重要階段，是難得可貴之絹本傑作。1934年黎譜遠赴中國文化之都──北京，此趟珍貴之行令其親眼欣賞中國傳統藝術之精髓，並轉化為其創作的養分和靈感。黎氏年輕時反覆琢磨絹本技法，力求精進，成為其早年的重要成就。黎氏喜用日本絹絲貼於畫板，以水粉及水墨描繪主題，筆觸輕柔，細節入微，畫作質感與色彩曖曖柔美雅致，充分體現了黎氏絹本創作的成熟風格與精湛技藝，再創全新高峰。

《鴛鴦戲蓮》黎譜以俯視的角度描繪漫遊於荷塘的一對鴛鴦。鴛鴦代表著吉祥，紅者為雄，灰者為雌。眾所周知，鴛鴦終生相伴，在傳統上為愛和奉獻的象徵。本主題彰顯黎氏對中國文化了解。

蓮花是無數民謠、頌歌和詩曲的主題，同時是越南文化重要的象徵，代表純潔、寧靜和樂觀。蓮花「出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖」，寓意越南人民堅韌不拔的意志。深受大乘佛教的影響，蓮花在越南也具有宗教意義，佛教文獻梵語稱之為Padma，象徵著身、心、靈的純潔，正如蓮花的長莖漂浮在執著和慾望的泥水之上。

黎譜採用印象派柔和的筆觸勾外型，此風格受皮耶．波納爾等後印象派畫家所影響。黎氏使用不透明的顏料來描繪主題，但細膩光滑絲絹表面提升了筆觸的輕盈度，為畫面平添了如夢似幻的風韻。

本幅作品瀰漫一股沁人心脾的寧靜氣息，和諧協調的色彩、柔和的畫面質感，以及細膩的筆法。此作出自1930年晚期，黎譜隨後創作轉向以油彩為主。黎譜花卉水墨設色絹本鮮見於藝術市場，以動物作為題材的作品更甚珍罕。本幅作品尺幅大，展現藝術家在處理絲絹媒材方面無與倫比的精湛技藝。《鴛鴦戲蓮》象徵和諧、堅韌、永恆的愛情之美。黎譜將中國越南文化與西方現代技法相互結合，為越南藝術發展鋪墊新方向。