Pham Hau (1903-1995)

Paysage aux jonques Lacquer with gold and silver highlights and crushed mother-of-pearl, signed lower right Screen with 3 panels Hauteur 105.6 cm - 41 1/2 in. Largeur des panneaux: 50 + 100 + 50 cm Width of the panels: 19 5/8 + 39 3/8 + 19 5/8 in. Full screen: 105.6 x 200 cm - 41 1/2 x 78 3/4 in. PHẠM HẬU Born in 1903 in the village of Đông Ng ạc in Ha Dong province in a poor family, Ph ạm Hậu lost his parents at the age of 10. Although his siblings tried to provide for him, his childhood was marked by a very precarious situation. His marriage in 1926 with Ph ạm Th ị Chuyên the daughter of a wealthy family, enabled him to meet the painter Nam S ơn. He made him want to enter the Indochina School of Fine Arts, joining the 5th class from 1929- 1934. During these years of apprenticeship, he discovered and deepened the technique of lacquer. Supported by his teacher Joseph Inguimberty and helped by his classmates such as Lê Phổ and Trần Văn C ẩn, Ph ạm Hậu renewed this ancestral craftsmanship. He experimented the addition of new pig - ments and new materials which allowed him to produce more layers and create new effects. After graduating in 1934, Ph ạm Hậu returned to his native village where he continued to produce paintings, objects and lacquered furniture. With the help of Victor Tardieu, the artist obtained an order for 50 lacquered ciga - rette cases marked by the Art Nouveau and Art Deco taste very much appreciated in France. He found success, and in front of the increase of orders Ph ạm Hậu recruited apprentices. His talent was rewarded on several occasions by many organizations, including the SADEAI (Society to encourage art and industry) in Hanoi, which awarded him the gold medal in 1935 and the First Certificate in 1936. His fame is such that his biography can be read in the Vietnamese Who’s who in 1943, which lists only two other painters. Attached to the promotion and spreading of his country’s craftsmanship, he created in 1949 the National School of Handicrafts, the first university of art in the country and still active today under the name of University of Industrial Fine Art. In addition to his teaching, the high quality of his lacquerware has led him to exhibit in many countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and North Korea. His unique style based on the ancestral technique of lacquer but enriched by new contributions makes the artist one of the best ambassadors of Vietnamese art. Mainly inspired by the rep - resentation of landscapes and forests but also of animals, his lacquers are collected by Euro - pean collectors and Vietnamese amateurs.  The enthusiastic admirer of Vietnam’s natural riches Phạm Hậu has constantly depicted landscapes surrounding him. Among them, a bay similar to Halong was a great inspiration for him. Although the artist tirelessly reproduced this subject, some nuances and subtleties stand out in each of the works. In Paysage aux jonques presented in this sale, the master lacquerer enhances innovative processes. Strengthen by the teaching of Joseph Inguimberty he received at the Hanoi School of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1934, Phạm Hậu relies on the introduction of new colors such as lagoon blue, pink and even green. The brilliant craftsman and artist extends this modernity through a revision of the technique of lacquer. In order to create more depth and a new volume, Phạm Hậu chooses to combine the technique of painting with that of sculpture. By first creating the foreground and not the background, and then applying the layer of lacquer, the artist brings a new rendering. The exceptional mastery of the master allows him to go beyond the precepts of traditional lacquer and to contribute to the influence of this art throughout his country and abroad