Nguyễn Gia Trí  (1908-1993), Abstract Composition. Signed. Lacquer on wood, 92 by 122 cm.; 36 by 48 in. Executed CIRCA 1960. Estimate 350,000 — 550,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.

Provenance: Private Collection, France
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, April 2 2012, Lot 288

Note: Nguyễn Gia Trí began to settle in Saigon during the French Colonization, but it was not until the late 1950s that he began to compose his now famous and important lacquer works. Talented, creative and inquisitive, Gia Trí explored and mastered abstract composition, which led to the formation of an art movement that developed a dialogue between Eastern and Western lacquer traditions, and cemented the artist as the preeminent 20th century Master of Vietnamese lacquer.