Bonhams is pleased to bring to sale from an important European private collection a selection of works from two of the last vanguards of modern Vietnamese art, Bùi Xuân Phái and Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm. Both artists belong to the last batch of graduates from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine (1941-1946), and were pivotal in the transmission of a modern sensibility. 

This took place against a backdrop of development in Vietnamese art in the immediate post-war years, as artists situated in independence-seeking Vietnam sought new visual languages beyond the apogee of its first generation painters – particularly the diasporic artists in Paris like Lê Phô – who created the aesthetic foundations in silk and lacquer painting. The colour palette of the latter was tropical and true to life but restrained to sorghum browns and greens. Vietnam stood fossilised, in memoriam.

The oeuvres of Bùi Xuân Phái and Nguyen Tu Nghiem centred on the subject matter of daily and ritual life in Vietnam, from the Hanoi old streets beloved by Bùi Xuân Phái to the traditional dances Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm was captivated by. Collectively, they injected realism – and a corresponding sense of romance – into Vietnamese art, steering its identity from the colonial-era preoccupation with deriving vernacular mediums and techniques to a modern, undisguised and more direct engagement with daily life. Dynamism and vivacity mark the fleeting glimpses of life captured by Bui and Nguyen.

Between 1960 to 1990, the address of 60 Nguyễn Hữu Huân was a cafe established by Mr. Lâm called Lâm Cafe. Some of the leading Vietnamese modern artists found Lâm Cafe hospitable and warm. Mr. Lam would extend the artists credit for meals and drinks in exchange for their paintings. In the present lot, Bùi Xuân Phái has painted a colourful and upbeat scene of Nguyễn Hữu Huân.

Lot 1. Bùi Xuân Phái (Vietnamese, 1920-1988), Ruelle de Hanoï, signed 'Phai', lower right; inscribed in Vietnamese 'Nguyen Van Lam / 60 Nguyen Huu Huan / Hanoi', on the reverse, oil on board,15 x 21.5 cm. (5 7/8 x 8 1/2 in.). Estimate HK$20,000 - 30,000 (US$2,500 - 3,800). Sold for HK$ 35,625 (€ 4,028) inc. premium. © Bonhams 2001-2019

Property of an important European private collection.

Provenance: Acquired directly from the estate of the artist by the present owner.