The auction is collaboration between Drouot Digital and Hanoi-based PI Auction House, aiming to introduce Vietnamese art to the world, according to the latter’s CEO Nguyen Do Son.
“As one of the first art auction houses in the country, we have witnessed and passed the ups and downs of the secondary market,” said Son.
“We believe that just a strong push can create a link between the domestic art market and the world then more and more art lovers and collectors will honour the values of Vietnamese art,” he said.
The event Arts du Vietnam (Vietnamese Art) will be the first international standard art auction in Vietnam. Art collectors can bid online at drouotonline.com/en/auctions/105843 or auction directly at the Sofiel Metropole Hanoi Hotel, 15 Ngo Quyen Street in the capital.
The artworks stretch from the period of colonialism, through to resistance wars against foreign invaders, to the contemporary period.
Some remarkable artworks include New Year Festival by Nguyen Gia Tri (1908-1993).
Tri studied in the Indochina College of Fine Arts between 1929 and 1934. With To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Tuong Lan and Tran Van Can, Tri formed the first four masters of Vietnamese fine arts.
He pioneered the conversion of decorative lacquer paintings into art pieces and has been dubbed as the father of Vietnamese modern lacquer paintings.
The lacquer on panel New Year Festival was created in the same style and inspiration as the famous painting Vuon Xuan Trung Nam Bac (Spring Garden of North, Central and South), currently kept at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.
Another highlight is oil painting on canvas Abstract by Le Ba Dang (1921-2015) who graduated from the Academy of Toulouse Art.
During his 70-year career, Dang received many titles including an award from the International Institute of St Louis in 1989 and a medal of recognition of artistic and cultural contributions from the French government in 1994.
In 1992, Cambridge University ranked him as one of the more important artists currently alive. Today, his works are in the collections of art centres and museums worldwide.
The auction also features prominent names of Vietnamese art such as Duong Huong Minh, To Ngoc Van and Bui Xuan Phai.
Drouot is a name that resonates amongst art lovers around the world. In 1851, it became the headquarters to La Chambre Nationale des Commissaires-Priseurs Judiciare (National Chamber of Judicial Auctioneers), founded by Napoleon I in 1801, and continues to be a place of reference for the French and European art market.
All the artworks to be auctioned are on display at PI Auction House, 11 Trang Thi Street, Hanoi.
