Exceptional set of 15 panels in lacquered polychrome and gold wood, forming
panorama. Signed and dated MCMXLII (1942) lower right. Dimensions of each
panel: 50x75 cm. Dimensions of the fresco: 150x375 cm.
Condition: some cracks, dents and accidents. Directed as part of the work of the
5th year students of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (1941).
Nguyen Van Ty, just graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, signs
this lacquer - a few months later (early 1942) - when it is acquired by the Chief
Engineer of the Railways line Yunnan (grandfather of the current owner).
When he created the lacquer section at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1929, Joseph
Inguimberty launched a real challenge: that of «renovating the great art
disappeared», to find a forgotten tradition, ancestral technique and the precious
material of the lacquer itself. In 1938, after long research and trial and error,
Inguimberty sees this quest for beauty crowned with success.
The famous Cho-Bo rapids, located on the Black River - a few dozen kilometers
from Hanoi - are among the must-see places in Upper Tonkin that the lacquer teacher
loved to paint. Between 1940 and 1942 Joseph Inguimberty led his students
to work on this fascinating motif that lends itself beautifully to great panoramas.
It is in this artistic process that Nguyen Van Ty is attached to this emblematic
place of North Vietnam. Between 1941 and 1943, he created - assisted by a few
students from the Beaux-Arts - at least four versions of this theme, four lacquers
with very different atmospheres and dimensions.
Our work is the first, the biggest and the most spectacular. A later version
of 1943 and smaller dimensions (100x231 cm) is on display at the National
Gallery in Singapore.
Biography : With Pham Hau, Nguyen Gia Tri and Nguyen Khang, Nguyen Van Ty is part of the
generation of the greatest master lacquerers of Vietnam. During the Indochina War (1946-1954),
Nguyen Van Ty became Professor in the Resistance Classes of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Peace
returned, he moved permanently to Hanoi and became in his turn Professor at the School of
Fine Arts of North Vietnam, a position he held until 1969. He was also appointed First Secretary
General of the Association of Fine Arts of Vietnam from 1957-1958.
Bibliography : reproduced, not finalized, in the magazine Indochine n ° 40 of February 6,
1941. The work is to be compared to the famous oil on canvas by Joseph Inguimberty (Denis
Frères Collection). See similar work under the direction of Joseph Inguimberty sold on October
15, 2018 Indochine – Mythes et Réalités Chapitre V.

INDOCHINE 6 AUCTION IN HÔTEL drouot, PARIS
2 days of EXHIBITION : SATURDAY 30 and SUNDAY March 31, 2019
2 days of AUCTIONS : April 1 and 2, 2019

Experts 
Lynda Trouvé lt@lyndatrouve.com / 06 81 64 70 53
and Christophe Fumeux cfumeux@wanadoo.fr / 06 09 43 79 34