Lot n° 162
Estimation :
15000 - 18000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 22 000EUR
NGUYEN NAM SON (1890-1973).
Portrait of a... - Lot 162 - Lynda Trouvé
NGUYEN NAM SON (1890-1973).
Portrait of a monk.
Sanguine, graphite and charcoal signed and dated 1939 lower left. Paper mounted on canvas.
Dimensions: 65x50 cm.
Provenance: Collection of Nguyen Vàn Lam, Hanoi, offered on 19/04/1994.
(Misses, folds and stains).
Born in 1890 in Hanoi, Nam Son, whose real name is Nguyen Van Tho, is recognized today as one of the most important masters in the history of Vietnamese art. Early on, while studying at the protectorate high school, his drawing skills became apparent. Having contributed to illustrate manuals and magazines, he met Victor Tardieu who was awarded the Indochina prize in 1920 and who became his friend and mentor. Through his contact with Victor Tardieu, Nam Son tried his hand at European techniques, particularly oil painting, and began to exhibit his works in 1923. As a result of the friendship they shared, the Indochina School of Fine Arts was created one year later, an institution where Nam San himself was a professor.
The drawing that we present is a true manifesto of Nam Son's work. If his talent was expressed through various techniques and media such as painting on silk or oil painting, the artist remained a born draftsman: the precision of his line gives rise to striking portraits, taken from life in minimalist but edifying compositions.
Here, simple but precise lines trace the monk represented in three quarters, his right hand outstretched to sketch with a gentle gesture the prana mudra, symbol of life. How not to read in this gesture the symbol of the blessing inherited from the Catholic iconographic tradition, a culture from which the artist is steeped.
The garment succinctly suggested by rapid gestures in graphite contrasts with the complexion of the character made tangible by the skilful use of red chalk and a few highlights of white chalk.
Very close to another work by Nam Son in the collection of Mr. Ngo Kim Khoi entitled "Portrait of an old man" and dated 1938, this drawing of great finesse reveals the artist's desire to capture with naturalism the details of his subjects. Everyday subjects that the talent of the draftsman comes to sublimate. From admirable elegant women to the most common street scenes, Nam Son's art has always resided in his ability to detect the beauty that everyday life often hides.
From the collection of Nguyen Van Lam, the work benefits from a provenance attested to on the reverse by a dedication in ink dated April 19, 1994. The Café Lâm, a mythical institution in Hanoi, gathered within its walls an important and extraordinary collection of works by great masters, including several drawings by Nam Son, as confirmed by the testimonies of the time. A real melting pot of the Vietnamese artistic life of the period, like the cafés of Montmartre in the Belle Epoque, it was one of the major places of the rediscovery of Vietnamese art, especially in the 90s.
Its state of conservation shows the usual damage of the drawings of this so particular collection. Simply pinned up, the drawings of this collection tell the story of the life of the café and of artistic creation through the donations of the most talented artists.
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