The series will be featured in Sotheby's sale of "Modern and Contemporary Art" live auction in Singapore on Aug. 28. Pho (1907-2001) has the most paintings in the session, with eight out of 50 works by 37 artists.
The painting "Vietnamese Lady" has attracted attention with an estimated price of up to S$1 million ($717,200). It is a 28.5 x 23.5 centimeter ink and gouache work on silk with Pho's signature in the lower right corner.
Pho depicts a young lady dressed in a white ao dai sitting on a traditional wooden chair, gazing towards the viewer. According to the auction house, the work is "exquisitely painted and exceptionally rare," displaying his "unparalleled technical mastery in handling silk as a medium."
The artist signed the oil painting "La Mere et L'enfant" (Mother and Child) in English and Chinese in the lower left corner. The painting depicts a mother and child amid a vibrant flower garden.
According to Sotheby's provenance records, the painting was once displayed at the Wally Findlay gallery in Palm Beach in the U.S. It belonged to a private collection in the United States and an Emirati collector later purchased back the work. The piece is projected to fetch S$350,000 (over $250,800).
The oil painting "L'heure du The" (Tea Time), measuring 92 x73 centimeters and inscribed "Galeries Findlay NY " on the back, is valued at S$320,000 (over $229,300). The artist depicts three young girls dressed in traditional attire drinking tea in a hut in the middle of a flower garden.
The work was purchased from the Wally Findlay gallery in New York by a private American collector and then sold to its current owner. Sotheby’s said Findlay was the pinnacle of Le Pho's career, named after Wally Findlay, the gallery that represented Le Pho and later painter Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000) from 1963 to date. The artist's works from this period stand out with their vivid tones and large canvases, attracting the attention of many American collectors.
Around 1960, the painting "Women with Flowers" was created by combining many materials on silk cloth placed on wood. The work was previously sold at Christie's in Hong Kong in May 2019 for HK$600,000 (over $76,400), and it is now in a private Asian collection. Women and flowers are two major themes associated with Le Pho's name, according to art researcher Ngo Kim Khoi.
"Les Lavannieres," an oil painting on silk attached to wood measuring 92 x 65 centimeter, was estimated by the auction house at S$85,000 (over $60,900). Previously, the painting was sold by auction house Christie's in 2011 for HK$200,000 (nearly $25,500).
"Flowers," a 90.5 x 58.5 centimeter oil on silk painting, has the inscription "NY 20" on the back. The painting, which was completed around 1955, was shown at the Romanet gallery in Paris. The work was last seen on the auction floor in April 2006, also during a Sotheby's Singapore session.
"Pivoines et Delphiniums" (Peonies and Delphiniums), inscribed 10 - Palm Beach on the back, is a 99 x 65 centimeter oil on silk painting. The work was purchased by an Asian collector in 1999.
"Fleurs," an oil on canvas, is another work from the Findlay gallery. The prize money for the drawing is estimated at S$180,000 (nearly $129,000).
The "Modern and Contemporary Art" session will also include works by several other Vietnamese artists, including Dam and Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980).
Pho was born in Hanoi in 1907. He moved to France in 1937 and lived there until his death in 2001.
He was a prominent painter who carved out a long and successful career in France, creating thousands of paintings. He was named along with Vu Cao Dam, Le Thi Luu and Mai Trung Thu as the four most prominent artists of the golden age of Vietnamese modern art.
He was the first Vietnamese artist to breach the million-dollar mark. His first painting to fetch over $1 million was ‘Family Life’ at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction house in April 2017.
