“La ronde des enfants” (Circle of Children Playing) was one of the artworks presented at the Asian Painters auction held on September 26.
Having been estimated to be worth from 400,000 to 500,000 euros, it was sold at 590,560 euros.
The silk painting was created in 1965 and illustrates children playing happily with simple brushstrokes and bright colors.
The silk painting “Enfants jouant dans la campagne” (Children Playing in the Countryside) was painted in 1971. The artist signed his name at the bottom left corner.
Various activities were portrayed in the painting, including children swimming in the river, climbing trees, and gardening.
It was sold for 309,840 euros.
“Enfants Grimpant à un arbre” (Children Climbing Tree), another silk painting by Thu, was made in 1970. His signature can be seen at the bottom right corner of the painting.
It was sold for 309,840 euros.
According to Aguttes, Thu started using bright colors in his artworks in the 1970s.
“Le coup de vent” (The Blowing Wind) was painted in 1978 on silk, with the painter’s name written at the bottom left corner.
It illustrates a slim woman, with black hair, and in a Vietnamese traditional costume.
Aguttes sold it for 188,500 euros.
Thu started painting young women when he was in college. He initially made oil paintings and later switched to silk.
He graduated in 1930 and started teaching at Quoc Hoc - Hue High School For The Gifted after that, where his career bloomed with his series of silk paintings of women.
Women in Thu’s artworks are often slim, with tumbled or bunned hair, and wear ao dai.
He held an individual exhibition named “Women in the Eyes of Mai Trung Thu” in 1967, which was highly received by critics and the general public.
“La flûte” (The Flute), a 1942 silk painting by the artist, was also present at the auction.
It was sold for 162,000 euros.
The silk painting “La toilette” (The Bathroom) was made by the artist in 1943.
Its final price was 121,950 euros.
“Jeune fille à l'éventail” (The Girl with a Fan) was painted in 1960 on silk. Thu signed his name on the bottom left corner of the painting.
It was sold for 80,600 euros.
Thu applied Western portrait-painting techniques to the artwork to illustrate a Vietnamese woman in an ao dai who elegantly holds the fan.
The orange background, the woman’s black hair, and the blue ao dai create an impressive color palette for the painting.
A famous contemporary Vietnamese artist of the early-20th century, Thu was a student of the first class of the Indochina Fine Arts College.
Together with Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam, and Le Thi Luu, Mai Trung Thu was part of the famous “quartet of [Vietnamese] painters in Europe.”
He spent most of his life in France. His paintings were mostly of women, children, and daily Asian life.
Many artworks by Thu were auctioned at international auction houses. His painting “Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong” (The Portrait of Phuong) is the Vietnamese artwork that has the highest auction price, at $3.1 million.
The artist’s paintings have been exhibited in Roma, Milan, Naples, Brussels, and San Francisco.
According to fine arts researcher Ngo Kim Khoi, the value of the artist’s paintings is on the rise.
“Whoever owns Mai Trung Thu’s paintings has a huge fortune in their hands,” he said.
