Paris – In Paris on 14 December Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr is presenting, for the first time, a sale entitled La Modernité Vietnamienne under the direction of Joan Yip. Blending Vietnamese and French traditions, the sale explore not only the Golden Age of Vietnamese art (1930-1945) but also the earlier and post-war period with paintings by Vietnamese artists such as Lê Phổ, Nguyễn Phan Chánh, Hoàng Tích Chù, Diệp Minh Châu, and French artists who have lived in Vietnam such as Henri Mège or Gaston Roullet. Among the highlights is Vue du Delta du Fleuve Rouge by Hoàng Tích Chù (1912-2003) estimated at €15,000-20,000.

Vue du delta du fleuve rouge comes from the collection of a European diplomat on duty in Vietnam in the 80s who bought it directly from the artist in November 1986. One of Vietnam’s greatest lacquer artist, Hoàng Tích Chù uses a rich palette of colours, especially blue and green blue that replace the traditional red, highlighted by gold and eggshells (Estimate: €15,000-20,000).

Like many of the pioneers of Vietnamese modern art, Hoàng Tích Chù was trained at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine in Hanoi (EBAI), created by the French colonial government in 1925, under the direction of Victor Tardieu (1870-1937). There artists mastered European techniques and media – notably oil painting – and transposed brushwork, drawing from life, plein air painting and a particular use of colour with their own artistic tradition, creating a new visual identity in modern Vietnamese art.

Among the first graduates of EBAI in 1930 was Nguyễn Phan Chánh (1892-1984) represented in the sale by Retour au village. Born in a humble village in Ha Tinh province, he grew up in a family of Confucian scholars and became particularly interested in silk painting from his classical training. He took much inspiration from the rural world and the lives of ordinary people. Retour au village is a 1955 work that accurately depicts the return of soldiers to their village after the victory of North Vietnam in 1954. The work was a gift to the Hungarian photographer Miklós Rév (1906-1998) who met Nguyễn Phan Chánh on a trip to Vietnam in 1959. Paintings by Phan Chánh rarely appear on the market (Estimate: €30,000-€50,000).

Nguyễn Phan Chánh (1892-1984), Retour au village, 1955, ink and painting on silk, 85x63cm. Estimate: €30,000-50,000. Photo: Bonhams.

Joan Yip, Senior Specialist for Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, said: ‘The 20th century marked a major turning point in Vietnamese art. We have gathered here an important and coherent set of works from Vietnam with paintings made in oil, watercolour, and lacquer. In recent years, the Vietnamese art market has been in the spotlight in France with the arrival of Vietnamese collectors. We now plan to organize sales in Paris twice a year.’

Other highlights of the sale:

• Lê Phổ (1907-2001) Les pivoines et les delphiniums (Peonies and Delphiniums), circa 1960s. Estimate : €50,000-70,000

• Gaston Roullet (1847-1925), Vue de Tourane au Vietnam (View of Tourane in Vietnam),1886. Estimate: €4,000-6,000€

• Huỳnh Phương Đông (1925-2015), Temple de Long Ong Ba Chieu (Long Ong Ba Chieu Temple), 1987. Estimate: €4,000-6,000

• Diệp Minh Châu (1919-2002), Bateaux de pêche sur le rivage (Fishing boats and sea), 1957 Estimate: €7,000-9,000

• Dô Xuân Doan (born 1937), Scène nocturne de quartier (Neighbourhood night scene), 2006 . Estimate: €3,000-5,000.