“Nguoc Dong Kenh Tau Hu Tu Cau Malabars, Cho Lon” (Upstream Along Tau Hu Canal from Malabars Bridge, Cholon), was completed in the early 20th-century by Adolf Obst.
Obst graduated from Germany’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts before being granted the Ministry of Culture’s scholarship to travel to the Southeast Asia region.
This is among the 56 paintings displayed at the “Mong Vien Dong” (The Faraway East: of Dreams and Pursuits) exhibition held by Sotheby’s in HCMC from August 14 to 17.
The exhibition aims to showcase a period of Vietnamese fine arts history, when famous painters from Europe arrived in Vietnam around the late-19th to the early-20th century, setting the foundation for the Indochina fine arts later.
Victor Tardieu’s oil painting “Mot Goc Pho Ha Noi” (A Street Corner in Hanoi) was completed in 1921, a year after the painter’s arrival to Vietnam.
Tardieu co-founded the Indochina School of Fine Arts with Vietnamese painter Nguyen Nam Son, which then became the institution that many famous painters in Vietnam, including Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, and Nguyen Gia Tri, graduated from.
He passed away in Hanoi in 1937.
“Rang Ba Vi Nhin Tu Ruong Son Tay” (Sights of Ba Vi Mountains from Rice Fields in Son Tay), painted by Joseph Inguimbery, is also part of the exhibition.
Inguimbery was a professor at the Indochina School of Fine Arts, whose teaching style is less academic compared to Tardieu’s. He frequently held outdoor painting sessions for his students.
Natural landscapes and people of the northern mountainous town of Sapa, portrayed by Joseph Inguimbery. The French painter completed this painting in 1942.
Évariste Jonchère painted “Phong Canh Viet Nam” (Landscapes in Vietnam) after arriving in the country in 1932 to succeed Victor Tardieu as the director of the Indochina School of Fine Arts.
Among the other paintings displayed is “Phong Canh Dong Ruong” (A Look of Rice Fields) by Maurice Ménardeau, who came to the Indochina region in 1930.
Painter Jean Jacques Rousseau completed this painting “Chua Lang, Ha Noi” (Lang Pagoda, Hanoi) in the period between 1902 and 1904.
The painter served as the vice president of the Colonial Society of French Artists.
Ha Long Bay was portrayed by painter Louis-Jules Dumoulin in this painting of the same name.
Dumoulin was a famous painter who was honored with various prestigious awards and medals for his contribution to the arts throughout his life.
He founded the Colonial Society of French Artists which granted young artists with scholarships, so that they could travel to and work in French colonies.
Géo Michel drew this oil painting, “Truoc Mieu, Hoang Thanh Hue” (In Front of the Pagoda in Hue Historic Citadel) in the 1930s.
Vietnamese people’ daily lives is another popular source of inspiration for many French arts professor. Charles Fouqueray painted this picture, “Xuong Son Mai O Ha Noi” (A Lacquer Shop in Hanoi) in 1921.
The silk painting “Thuyen O Ben Sai Gon” (Boats at Saigon Wharf) was produced by Léo Craste in 1938. The painter issued a seal calligraphy stamp at the corner of the painting as his signature.
