Le Pho (1907-2001), Femme Au Perroquet (Lady With Parrot)

signed, signed in Chinese with a seal of the artist upper right; titled Femme Au Perroquet and numbered 17 on the reverse. ink and gouache on silk. Executed circa 1938. Estimate 950,000—1,250,000 HKD

NOTE: It is rare in Vietnamese painting to find a young lady dressed in sombre colour amid austere surroundings. In Le Pho's works, women are always arrestingly beautiful, and dressed in tunics of vibrant colours or at times, white. When he uses white, the painter expresses its Occidental symbolism, expressing innocence and purity, while in Vietnam white is commonly used as the colour of mourning (especially if the woman is also wearing her white headdress).

Le Pho's rare depiction of a woman dressed as such seems to present a sense of self-effacement or waiting, eternal or momentary. In this extraordinary painting, the artist magnificently expresses a theme haunting him throughout his lifetime: is mourning a betrayal?

Le Pho's life was marked by mourning: for his mother, then for his father at a very young age; bereavement at his departure from his native land; sorrow at the loss of bygone days, of the literati world that he saw crumble. But the artist refused to sink into rancour. Death, exile, absence became illusory fears which he transcended with each brush stroke.

In his characteristically understated way, Le Pho once again uses allusion to convey his message, and detail to reinforce his theme. Behind a slightly parted curtain one can vaguely sense flowering branches outside while those indoors are withered, the bird does not rest on the woman's hand and does not even look at its filled bowl: abstention from everything seems to be the rule.

The painting echoes the sentiments of Chinh Phu Ngam ('Song of the Warrior's Wife') by Dang Tran Cong in about 1747. In one verse, the poet says,

Today the swallows have chased away the old nightingales,
And their young already sing in the face of our progress.

Birds seem to symbolise the passage of time and hope. Moved by the troubles that were tearing apart the Red River delta at the time, the poet expressed melancholy and the desire for happiness, which echo Le Pho's theme.

The artist was also inspired by a trip to Italy and especially Giambattista Tiepolo's Girl and Parrot, where the parrot is a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. Loss, sadness and time in this case seem in the end to be liberated by hope and renewal.

Sotheby's. Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings. 05 Apr 09. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com photo courtesy Sotheby's