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VISIONS OF VIETNAM: THE MELCHIOR DEJOUANY COLLECTION
NGUYEN GIA TRI (1908-1993)
La Perfection ou Femmes et Jardins du Vietnam (Perfection or Women and Gardens of Vietnam)
Details
NGUYEN GIA TRI (1908-1993)
La Perfection ou Femmes et Jardins du Vietnam (Perfection or Women and Gardens of Vietnam)
signed and dated 'Ng Tri 59' (lower right)
lacquer on panel
50.6 x 65 cm. (19 7⁄8 x 25 5⁄8 in.)
Executed in 1956-1959
La Perfection ou Femmes et Jardins du Vietnam (Perfection or Women and Gardens of Vietnam)
signed and dated 'Ng Tri 59' (lower right)
lacquer on panel
50.6 x 65 cm. (19 7⁄8 x 25 5⁄8 in.)
Executed in 1956-1959
Provenance
Claude Mahoudeau, France
Private collection, France
Private collection (acquired from the above in 1998)
Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2015, lot 5
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Private collection, France
Private collection (acquired from the above in 1998)
Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2015, lot 5
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Literature
K. Pho, ‘Jean-François Hubert’, Argument, July/August/September 2024 (illustrated, p. 40).
Exhibited
Paris, Christie's, The Phoenix Glue and the Broken Silk Thread - Important Vietnamese Artworks from the Melchior Dejouany Collection, 8 June - 13 June 2024
Further details
NGUYEN GIA TRI, "PERFECTION OR WOMEN AND GARDENS OF VIETNAM", 1956-59
OR THE TRANSCENDENCE OF PERFECTION
This lacquer composition is probably Nguyen Gia Tri (1908-1993)’s best documented work. Born intellectually from a happy meeting in Hanoi in 1943 at the ‘Salon Unique’ between the art critic Claude Mahoudeau and the artist, several historical events delayed its execution: The War of Independence, with its bloody clashes between Communists and Nationalists (among whose ranks Nguyen Gia Tri was a militant); the painter’s secure isolation in Hong Kong (on the island of Cheng Chau) from 1946 to 1951; and the partition of Vietnam following the Geneva Accords of 1954, all prevented the commission from being carried out.
Finally, in 1959, after three years’ work, the lacquer was completed. A letter dated 18 October 1959 from the artist to Claude Mahoudeau reveals the painter’s technical demands and ambition.
An extract is enough to convince us:
‘In your painting, there is a problem that, to be solved, requires great patience. In some areas, the eggshell is embedded in a cinnabar red background. How can one ensure that the final layer of red (at least three layers are needed to achieve the desired intensity, while also matching the level set by the eggshell) precisely meets the edge of the eggshell or spreads naturally into the network of cracks, without encroaching on the eggshell or revealing the underlying layer, which would create a different glossy red effect around each eggshell island? Another difficulty: the eggshell is inert while the lacquer shrinks as it dries. Therefore, for the final lacquer layer, one must wait until it dries to the maximum before sanding and polishing. I should say that the patience must be at its peak, because you never know - lacquer takes years to completely dry.’
The final work is an absolute masterpiece, where the semi-abstract atmosphere is built up through an explosion of gold, cinnabar red and eggshell, harmoniously and delicately deposited in alternating matte and gloss, gracefully highlighted by supple lines.
The exceptional signature dilutes the painter’s usual signature. Like a personal acknowledgement of the work accomplished: the transcendence of perfection.
Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Art of Vietnam
OR THE TRANSCENDENCE OF PERFECTION
This lacquer composition is probably Nguyen Gia Tri (1908-1993)’s best documented work. Born intellectually from a happy meeting in Hanoi in 1943 at the ‘Salon Unique’ between the art critic Claude Mahoudeau and the artist, several historical events delayed its execution: The War of Independence, with its bloody clashes between Communists and Nationalists (among whose ranks Nguyen Gia Tri was a militant); the painter’s secure isolation in Hong Kong (on the island of Cheng Chau) from 1946 to 1951; and the partition of Vietnam following the Geneva Accords of 1954, all prevented the commission from being carried out.
Finally, in 1959, after three years’ work, the lacquer was completed. A letter dated 18 October 1959 from the artist to Claude Mahoudeau reveals the painter’s technical demands and ambition.
An extract is enough to convince us:
‘In your painting, there is a problem that, to be solved, requires great patience. In some areas, the eggshell is embedded in a cinnabar red background. How can one ensure that the final layer of red (at least three layers are needed to achieve the desired intensity, while also matching the level set by the eggshell) precisely meets the edge of the eggshell or spreads naturally into the network of cracks, without encroaching on the eggshell or revealing the underlying layer, which would create a different glossy red effect around each eggshell island? Another difficulty: the eggshell is inert while the lacquer shrinks as it dries. Therefore, for the final lacquer layer, one must wait until it dries to the maximum before sanding and polishing. I should say that the patience must be at its peak, because you never know - lacquer takes years to completely dry.’
The final work is an absolute masterpiece, where the semi-abstract atmosphere is built up through an explosion of gold, cinnabar red and eggshell, harmoniously and delicately deposited in alternating matte and gloss, gracefully highlighted by supple lines.
The exceptional signature dilutes the painter’s usual signature. Like a personal acknowledgement of the work accomplished: the transcendence of perfection.
Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Art of Vietnam
Brought to you by
Ziwei Yi
Specialist, Head of 20th Century Day Sale