Lot Essay
The subject of nude is extremely rare in the early development years of Vietnamese pictures due to the conservatism of Vietnamese society which made the availability of models almost impossible. After settling in Paris, many of these artists took up the opportunity to dabble with the subject and consequently produced delightful results.
Working in Paris during the thirties, when almost two decades had passed since the execution of the influential Luxe, Calme, et Volupte (1904-5) and the Le Bonheur de Vivre (1905-6) by Henri Matisse (1869-1954), the works of these Vietnamese artists nevertheless still revealed strong tendencies towards fauvism.
By that time the fauvist controversy had already blown over. In fact, the linearity and schematization as expressed by Matisse were by then codified aesthetics which were widely emulated by young artists. Besides the Vietnamese artists, Chinese artists like Pan Yu Liang and Chang Yu were also creating works of Oriental sensuality using fauvist techniques. Despite subjecting their works to individual interpretation, most of the nude paintings by these Oriental painters exuded both refinement and Arcadian simplicity which were intimately associated with 'the Fauve of Fauves' - Henri Matisse.
Both lots 127 and 128 by Vu Cao Dam reveal many affinities with the nude works of the master. The realistic human body was objectified and dramatised, and this specially-created pictorial order emphasized the element of theatricality, cajoling the viewer to look at the painting as if watching a performance. The lines of both works are especially in accordance with Matisse's principle, in which lines function not only as tools for the construction of forms, but also to give a greater amplitude in space.
"Suppose I want to paint a woman's body: first of all I imbue it with charm, but I know that I must give something more. I will condense the meaning of this body by seeking its essential lines. The charm will be less apparent at first glance, but it must eventually emerge from a new image which will have a broader meaning, one more fully human." ('Notes of a painter', 1908 trans. in Jack Flam, Matisse: A Retrospective, 1988.).
Such were the fundamentals to which Vu Cao Dam adhered.
Working in Paris during the thirties, when almost two decades had passed since the execution of the influential Luxe, Calme, et Volupte (1904-5) and the Le Bonheur de Vivre (1905-6) by Henri Matisse (1869-1954), the works of these Vietnamese artists nevertheless still revealed strong tendencies towards fauvism.
By that time the fauvist controversy had already blown over. In fact, the linearity and schematization as expressed by Matisse were by then codified aesthetics which were widely emulated by young artists. Besides the Vietnamese artists, Chinese artists like Pan Yu Liang and Chang Yu were also creating works of Oriental sensuality using fauvist techniques. Despite subjecting their works to individual interpretation, most of the nude paintings by these Oriental painters exuded both refinement and Arcadian simplicity which were intimately associated with 'the Fauve of Fauves' - Henri Matisse.
Both lots 127 and 128 by Vu Cao Dam reveal many affinities with the nude works of the master. The realistic human body was objectified and dramatised, and this specially-created pictorial order emphasized the element of theatricality, cajoling the viewer to look at the painting as if watching a performance. The lines of both works are especially in accordance with Matisse's principle, in which lines function not only as tools for the construction of forms, but also to give a greater amplitude in space.
"Suppose I want to paint a woman's body: first of all I imbue it with charm, but I know that I must give something more. I will condense the meaning of this body by seeking its essential lines. The charm will be less apparent at first glance, but it must eventually emerge from a new image which will have a broader meaning, one more fully human." ('Notes of a painter', 1908 trans. in Jack Flam, Matisse: A Retrospective, 1988.).
Such were the fundamentals to which Vu Cao Dam adhered.