The upcoming "Painters & Art From Vietnam" session of French auction house Aguttes will feature the six-panel lacquer "Les rapides de Cho Bo". The work is expected to fetch 400,000 euro (over $393,000), the highest bid in the session on Oct. 3.
The work was created in 1942 and is said to portray a scene from the Bo market in northern Hoa Binh Province.
"With great mastery, the artist arranges several planes and gives relief and depth to the magnificent landscape that takes shape before our eyes," the auction house wrote. Photo courtesy of Aguttes
The "Landscape of Vietnam" features bamboo trees in the foreground and shows a peaceful village scene behind with houses, boats and people fishing on the river. The 140 x 99.5 centimeter lacquer on wood was sold in October 2019 during the "Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art" session by Sothebys' Hong Kong for a price of HK$562,500 (over $71,000). Photo courtesy of Sothebys
A lacquer of Loc's Bac Ky Fishing Village from before 1950 depicts a house with a massive fishing net in front.
According to French auction house Lynda Trouve, the painting was painted in Hanoi. It was purchased by someone in Saigon from a French family. The lacquer was sold for 25,000 euro during a Lynda Trouve session in April 2019 for VND585 million. On Sept. 21, a comparable painting sold at Christie's for 10,080 euros. Photo courtesy of Lynda Trouve
Untitled two-panel lacquer painting, 59x158.5 centimeters, created in 1943. In April 2014, the painting was sold for HK$275,000 at Sotheby's Hong Kong's "Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Painting" session.
Experts say Le Quoc Loc's large-format lacquer landscape paintings are widely sought after on the international market and have achieved a high level. In the Millon-Asium session in October 2021, his painting "Scenery of Phnom Penh" fetched 1.2 million euro. Photo courtesy of Sotheby's
The two-panel hardwood screen "Landscape," measuring 121 x 80 centimeter, was created in 1943 and sold for HK$175,000 at Sotheby's Hong Kong session in April 2013. Photo courtesy of Sotheby's
The work "A Vietnamese River Scene" is made up of five panels that measure 230 x 222.5 centimeters. The artist depicted another scene of the fishing village but added brown and black hills in the background. The current owner paid HK$437,500 for the artwork during Christie's "Asian 20th Century & Contemporary Art" session in May 2014. Photo courtesy of Christie's
A different landscape lacquer painted by Loc that was sold for HK$275,000 in Christie's October 2016 session. Photo courtesy of Christie's
Loc was born in northern Hung Yen Province in 1918. He studied in the lacquer department at the Indochina College of Fine Arts between 1937-1943. He won the gold medal at an exhibition in Leipzig in 1973. He also won second prize at an exhibition in Germany in 1973, and first prize in 1978. He passed away in Hanoi in 1987.
