Ⓟ TRAN PHUC DUYEN (1923-1993)

"River banks" 1950 Rare and important lacquered folding screen, comprising eight panels in polychrome lacquered wood, gold, eggshell and mother-of-pearl inlays, signed and dated lower right. Dimensions per panel: 80 x 25 cm Total dimensions: 80 x 200 cm (pigmentation stains on the lower part, a few chips on the edges, one panel with a through-chip). Provenance : Reputedly acquired by Monsieur Robert Dubois. In the family by descent. Trần Phúc Duyên (1923-1993) "Bờ sông", 1950 Kệ màn hiếm và quan trọng bằng sơn lạc, bao gồm tám tấm gỗ sơn lạc đa sắc, vàng, có các inlay bằng vỏ trứng và nacre, ký tên và ngày ở góc dưới bên phải. Kích thước của mỗi tấm: 80 x 25 cm Kích thước tổng cộng: 80 x 200 cm Xuất xứ : Được cho là được mua bởi ông Robert Dubois. Trong gia đình theo dòng dõi. Born in Hanoi in 1923, Trần Phúc Duyên is a major Vietnamese artist of the 20th century. Born into a wealthy family, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine, specializing in lacquerware. He graduated in 1946. He moved to France in 1954 to study at the Beaux-Arts, developing his reputation and career between East and West. The exhibition commemorating Trần Phúc Duyên's centenary at the Quang San Art Museum in Ho Chi Minh City in 2023 highlighted his significant production of screens. But his talent in this field was nevertheless recognized early in his career, since a screen painted by Trần Phúc Duyên was offered by the Vietnamese government to Pope Pius XII on the occasion of the Holy Year in 1950, thus raising his profile with the general public. Initially figurative and decorative, his art evolved towards minimalist abstraction, elevating Vietnamese lacquer to the status of a major art form. The screen presented here belongs to the first part of his production. It combines Eastern aesthetics and Western techniques typical of graduates of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, with his distinctive colors of black, vermilion and gold. The piece features a lakeside landscape, most likely located in the rice-growing regions of North Vietnam. The enchanting blue used by the artist to depict the river gives the work its splendor, contrasting with the black of the rocky peaks that appear in the distance. Figures of young women and animals also punctuate the various panels, touches of life appearing in the midst of a majestic landscape, and demonstrating the painter's genius for excelling even in the smallest details of his art. The work offered for sale is by far one of the largest on the market in terms of size.