La Rose Rouge (J. femme à l’écharpe) [The Red Rose (Young Lady with Scarf)]

1959

A gouache and ink on silk portrait by Mai Trung Thứ depicting a young woman with a scarf, created in 1959. The work exemplifies the artist's unique blend of Western classical portraiture aesthetics with Vietnamese cultural identity, reflecting his training at the École des Beaux Arts d'Indochine and subsequent career in France.

Medium: Mai Thu was among the first cohort to graduate from the École des Beaux Arts d’Indochine. As a result of his Western art education and having made France his home from 1937, Mai Thu melds Western aesthetics into his vignettes of Vietnam’s upper class; through the depiction of figures reminiscent of classical Western portraiture, yet tinged with a Vietnamese content. The strong Vietnamese pictorial identity is also the result of remaining faithful to one medium - gouache and ink on silk - as demonstrated in this portrait.
Spotted At: Auction House · Phillips

🔨 Auction Lot

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale

May 25, 2019