(Thethaovanhoa.vn) - The 2nd "Art Flavour" auction by Lythi Auction House will take place at 2:00 PM on May 27th at Hôtel des Arts Saigon (76-78 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Ho Chi Minh City), featuring a special sketch by artist Nguyen Gia Tri (1908 - 1993).
This auction, titled "Vietnamese 20th Century and Contemporary Art", will commence with a moment of remembrance for the death anniversaries of Tô Ngọc Vân (June 17, 1954), Nguyen Gia Tri (June 20, 1993), Luu Cong Nhan (July 21, 2007)… These are significant figures that have greatly contribution and have anniversaries close to the auction date.
One and Only
The sketch on paper by Nguyen Gia Tri at this auction is named "Countryside Landscape" (74 cm x 40 cm, 1968), currently owned by collector Truong Van Thuan (Ho Chi Minh City). In terms of overall composition, technique and aesthetic, this sketch stands independently as a complete artwork.
Artist Nguyen Gia Tri
This is perhaps one of the reasons why Nguyen Gia Tri signed and carefully preserved it. Despite the fact that Mr. Tri was known to be methodical and kept many sketches, not all of them met his standards (those that didn’t were discarded).
Buying and auctioning a sketch is quite common, especially for artist whose works are considered national treasures like Nguyen Gia Tri. However, Lythi Auction's event is becoming unprecedented due to a rare coincidence at an extraordinary level, which is very rare in the world.
To clarify, on May 27th, at the “Asian 20th Century & Contemporary Art” auction in Hong Kong by Christie’s House, the laquer painting "Nostalgie du Haut Tonkin" (80 cm x 40 cm, 1968) by Nguyen Gia Tri is put out to bid and estimated at $154,812 to $232,217. This artwork is actually based on the sketch that Lythi Auction will present in Ho Chi Minh City on the same day (albeit a few hours earlier).
Composite image, on the left is the sketch on paper "Countryside Landscape," on the right is the lacquer painting "Nostalgie du Haut Tonkin."
Since both artworks were created in the same year, there is not much difference in the pictorial representation from the sketch to the lacquer. Nguyen Gia Tri became a master for several reasons, including his meticulous sketching on tracing paper, which ensured high compositional accuracy and preserved the original expressions and emotions when transferred to lacquer.
Owning a sketch, even by a renowned artist, might be considered "ordinary" for many people. However, the case of "Countryside Landscape” is quite different. It serves as the true "blueprint" for a beautiful artwork, created during Nguyễn Gia Trí's transitional period between works featuring "human figures/maidens" and “non-human figures”. It exudes an abstract spirit, a technique that the artist deeply cherished during the last two decades of his life.
National Treasure
On December 30, 2013, in the 2nd National Treasure recognition ceremony, Nguyen Gia Tri's lacquer painting "Spring Garden South Central North" was named and numbered 34.
Since then, there has been a presumption and an implied obligation that all of Nguyen Gia Tri's lacquer works are national treasures, and therefore prohibited from leaving Vietnam. While this presumption, while not entirely accurate in terms of legal status, has had the positive effect of adjusting perceptions and increasing the value as well as protection of Nguyen Gia Tri's lacquer paintings in general. However, it has also led to certain consequences, and in reality, the underground art trade has found ways to smuggle these paintings abroad.
At Christie’s auction on May 27th, many predict that "Nostalgie du Haut Tonkin" will fetch a final bid nearing $350,000 USD (nearly 8 billion VND). If true, this would be one of the highest publicly auctioned prices for Nguyen Gia Tri's artworks.
For many collectors and entrepreneurs who take pride in their national identity, this selling price is entirely acceptable. However, a young female collector in Ho Chi Minh City (who wishes to remain anonymous) expressed concern that since Nguyen Gia Tri's lacquer paintings are national treasures, whether there would be challenging to bring them back to Vietnam after auction, even though the law only restricts their export. Due to this concern, she decided to forgo her plans to travel to Hong Kong, despite her strong desire to bring such a "national treasure" back to Vietnam.
Lythi Auction representatives also mentioned that incomplete insurance issues made it very difficult to bring these masterpieces back to Vietnam for auction.
Great Artists "Stand alongside" Nguyen Gia Tri
In addition to the sketch by Nguyen Gia Tri, the auction also features artworks by Tô Ngọc Vân, Hoàng Tích Chù, Hoàng Lập Ngôn, Văn Đen, Lưu Công Nhân, Bùi Quang Ngọc, Hồ Hữu Thủ, Mai Long, Đỗ Xuân Doãn, Hoàng Hồng Cẩm, Chóe, Lê Quảng Hà, Lê Kinh Tài, Đoàn Hồng, Dương Sen... According to Ly Thi Auction, "These are names: either already legends in modern Vietnamese art, prominent in their time, or still mysterious figures awaiting discovery."
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