Le Minh

(b. 1937)

Spring Flowers with "Fu" Character

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in Saigon, Vietnam, between January 1963 - May 1964
Private Collection, California, USA

*Please note that this lot is located in Singapore. Buyer is responsible to arrange shipping from present location of lot to buyer's desired destination. To enquire shipping quote, please contact [email protected].


Le Minh graduated in 1957 from the historic Gia Dinh School of Applied Arts (École des Arts Décoratifs de Gia-Dinh), a school set up by the French in 1913. It was an important training ground for many pioneering southern Vietnamese painters and sculptors. The artist's skillful use of the palette knife was inspired by Henri Mege, a French man who served in the cavalry under Emperor Bao Dai, and who later took the position of art teacher in Saigon. Mege's later landscapes of his native Savoy were influenced by the vibrant colours of Asia. Equally, Le Minh's brightly coloured canvases nod in Mege's direction, using the palette knife to produce texture, thereby enhancing the tactile quality of his painting.

Le Minh's patrons were not the privileged international set of first generation artists like Le Pho or Vu Cao Dam, who were based in France. Neither did he paint political propaganda nor was he marginalised like Bui Xuan Phai. His oeuvre is a painterly bridge between these two generations and adds to Vietnam's rich art history. The artist's works were sold on an affluent street called Pasteur Avenue. The collector of these lots arrived in Saigon the "Paris of the Orient" in 1963 during the week of Tet festivities on a special tour of duty. He recalls Pasteur Avenue as a part of Saigon where the artists displayed their talents and wares. Saying I believe that is where I encountered the young artist and began to collect his work.