THANG TRAN PHENH (1895-1973). School of Fine Arts of Indochina. Class of 1931. The Wizard. 1931-1932. Large framed painting on silk signed and titled in ideograms in the upper left corner. Stamp of the artist TRAN BINH (THANG TRAN PHENH). Total dimensions: 60x76 cm (at sight). (Wear, traces of moisture and slight traces of mold). In its original frame called Gradin frame. Provenance: Collection Léopold de Stabenrath, press correspondent in Vietnam (Hanoi) from 1975 to 1997. The ideograms "Tran Binh" in Sino-Vietnamese are the phonetic translation of the name of the artist Thang Tran Phenh (1895-1972), the name by which he is usually known. The two names were used concomitantly by this painter whose works are rare on the market. Like Vu Cao Dam, Thang Tran Phenh was a graduate of the second class of the Indochina School of Fine Arts. He distinguished himself in 1932 at the exhibition organized by Victor Tardieu at the Indochina General Government Agency. On this occasion, a selection of works by the most talented students of the School of Fine Arts were presented. Among these masterpieces are exhibited alongside the greatest such as Nam Son and Nguyen Phan Chanh, two masterpieces of Thang Tran Phenh: "The card game" and "The sorcerer" that we present in this sale at numbers 149 and 150. Resounding and unanimously acclaimed by critics of the time, the exhibition was to be inaugurated by Paul Doumer himself (who died a few months earlier). Known for his photographic work before entering the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the artist later distinguished himself primarily by his talents as a watercolor illustrator. Of remarkable quality, the two silk paintings presented here are therefore particularly rare, historic and totally unpublished. According to our most recent researches regarding these two paintings, the stamp used here is the signature of Thang Tran Phenh (1895-1972) who used this artist name concomitantly with the name by which he is usually known. Indeed on another painting from Tran Phenh, can be read the signature written in Chinese, pronounced in mandarin "Thang Tran Binh" which corresponds to "Thang Tran Phenh" in the cantonese pronounciation. The works of this painter are extermely rare on the art market. Graduated from the second promotion of Indochina College of Fine Arts in 1931, the same year as Vu Cao Dam, Thang Tran Phenh distinguished himself during the exhibition organized by Victor Tardieu in 1932 at the "Agence du Gouvernement général de l'Indochine" where he exhibited alongside Nam Son or Nguyen Phan Chanh "Le jeu de cartes" and "Le sorcier", the two paintings presented in our sale. The exhibition was unanimously acclaimed by the critics and should have been inaugurated by Paul Doumer himself. Known for his photographic work before his entry in the College of Fine Arts, Thang Tran Phenh will be mostly recognized afterwards for his illustration skills. The two paintings presented in our sale are therefore extremely rare, historical and unpublished. We extend our most sincere thanks and gratitude to Mrs. Bui Hoang Anh, in charge of Art issues of Viet Art View company whithout whose assistance the discovery of the name of the artist would not have been possible. The scene consists of a group of three figures, the two women with their faces turned towards the Thäy-boi (seer). The man, probably blind in accordance with Vietnamese tradition which reserves divination for the blind, is accompanied by his belongings, characteristic of itinerant diviners, including a box on which are placed smoking incense sticks and a porcelain cup that he holds in his left hand. The scene represents the moment of the prediction: holding the cup at face level, the Thäy-boi comes to inhale the smoke released by the incense before pronouncing an invocation formula. Bibliography: L'Art et les artistes. Monthly review of ancient and modern art, volume XXV, numbers 130 (October 1932) to 134 (February 1933). Les Annales Coloniales, June 4, 1932, number 60. Le Petit Parisien. Daily evening newspaper, October 15, 1932.