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Lot Essay
When opportunity arose in the Far East in 1925 in the form of a teaching position in the newly set up Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine established by the French Colonial government, Inguimberty readily accepted it. By then he had graduated from art school and had spent time travelling widely in Europe. He had yearned to go beyond Europe to live and paint. This was his first time in Asia and he was one of the two French artists employed by and situated in the colony who could provide the French government an artistic perspective of the Vietnamese way of life.
Fascinated with the indigenous beauty and culture, Inguimberty maintained being an artist and an educator, though he was foremost an artist. He was in a completely foreign land bearing an alternate reality - an alternate aesthetic which was a seduction of a special distinction. He had to document this experience. It was exotic and romantic. In particular, the people with the tropical landscape as their backdrop. Inguimberty was a keen observer of Vietnamese life. He chose specifically to concentrate on aspects of daily life for its simplicity. People resting in the woods is one such example. It is apparent that the subjects in the painting are taking a break from their work. They are common folk dressed in traditional clothes each slightly different indicating their varying occupations. Other than a few details, the subjects remain largely generic. In line with the simplicity of the scene, the minimal subjects and colours within the scene heighten the innocence of the local lifestyle. Known to be meticulous in mapping out his composition, the painting adopts a fine symmetry in the positioning of the 3 subjects in complement to the background. Inguimberty preferred to paint outdoors with its natural setting of light, composition etc. In this painting, the interplay of light and dark colours as seen in the whites contrasted with the dark browns and greens makes the composition spatially full and interesting and again balanced. The gradation of tones in colour doesn't just add a dimension to the atmosphere but also creates a certain textural quality to the work as prominently seen in the ground at the forefront of the work.
Inguimberty, along with Victor Tardieu, were the first instructors of Western art theories in Vietnam. He had infused his Western art training with the Oriental subject, which was the very core of his curriculum. He was most influenced by 'poetic realism' which was the prevailing style in France at the time and duly translated this knowledge to his students. He aggressively encouraged his students to maintain their native identity in their artistic endeavours whilst being open to the external Western educational ideologies. This was to Inguimberty the ideal and this teaching facilitated the styles of the first and consequent batches of graduates from the school.
Fascinated with the indigenous beauty and culture, Inguimberty maintained being an artist and an educator, though he was foremost an artist. He was in a completely foreign land bearing an alternate reality - an alternate aesthetic which was a seduction of a special distinction. He had to document this experience. It was exotic and romantic. In particular, the people with the tropical landscape as their backdrop. Inguimberty was a keen observer of Vietnamese life. He chose specifically to concentrate on aspects of daily life for its simplicity. People resting in the woods is one such example. It is apparent that the subjects in the painting are taking a break from their work. They are common folk dressed in traditional clothes each slightly different indicating their varying occupations. Other than a few details, the subjects remain largely generic. In line with the simplicity of the scene, the minimal subjects and colours within the scene heighten the innocence of the local lifestyle. Known to be meticulous in mapping out his composition, the painting adopts a fine symmetry in the positioning of the 3 subjects in complement to the background. Inguimberty preferred to paint outdoors with its natural setting of light, composition etc. In this painting, the interplay of light and dark colours as seen in the whites contrasted with the dark browns and greens makes the composition spatially full and interesting and again balanced. The gradation of tones in colour doesn't just add a dimension to the atmosphere but also creates a certain textural quality to the work as prominently seen in the ground at the forefront of the work.
Inguimberty, along with Victor Tardieu, were the first instructors of Western art theories in Vietnam. He had infused his Western art training with the Oriental subject, which was the very core of his curriculum. He was most influenced by 'poetic realism' which was the prevailing style in France at the time and duly translated this knowledge to his students. He aggressively encouraged his students to maintain their native identity in their artistic endeavours whilst being open to the external Western educational ideologies. This was to Inguimberty the ideal and this teaching facilitated the styles of the first and consequent batches of graduates from the school.