Vu Cao Dam

(1908-2000)

Deux Jeunes Femmes (Two Young Women)

Footnotes

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by The Findlay Institute. This work will be included in the forthcoming Vu Cao Dam catalogue raisonné currently being prepared, under no. FG#120883.

Provenance
Artist Studio Paris, France
Private Collection Paris, France

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Among all the great Vietnamese masters recognised today, Vu Cao Dam remains one of the most admired for the finesse and poetic beauty of his body of work. Born in Hanoi in 1908 into a scholarly family, Catholic but of Confucian tradition, Vu entered Hanoi's École des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine in 1926 at 18 years old, a year after the school first opened. During the first ten years of his career, he focused mainly on sculpture and displayed remarkable talent and maturity in his work for his young age. At only 23, he was selected to participate in the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and gained much acclaim from the local press and art critics of the time.

Upon graduating from the school in 1931, Vu was awarded a one-year scholarship to study in France and enrolled at the prestigious École du Louvre in the Far-East section. Little did he know that he was never to see his homeland again, as war and geopolitical upheaval changed the course of his destiny. Yet his homeland was never far from his heart, as it was evidently the inspiration behind his art. One senses the outpouring of love and longing, the bittersweet melancholy that pervades the art of the Master. Vu went on to marry a French woman and settled in France, yet the inspiration for his artistic vision remained his youthful memories of his beloved motherland.

As he often stated throughout his career, his artistic interpretations were mainly drawn from the Kim Van Kieu, the famous and much revered Vietnamese epic written by Nguyen Du (1765–1820). In 1949, Vu moved from Paris to the countryside of southern France, renowned for its beautiful scenery and light, living down the road from Matisse's Chapel and a short distance from Marc Chagall's home. Having excelled in both painting and sculpture, Vu's artwork stands the test of time for its profound beauty, extreme refinement, and humanistic sensitivity.

Modelled in clay, this rare sculpture by Vu Cao Dam irradiates a gentle grace and sensuality. Two young women are depicted dressed in the traditional Vietnamese ao dai, one of whom is standing and tenderly arranging her companion's coiffure. The second figure is seated serene and languid on the ground, resting her weight on her left arm—quiescence and introspection characterise her demeanour. The figures' soft lines and delicate physicality are captured by the fluid and perfectly proportioned rendering of the body. A modest medium, Vu turned to modelling in clay during the Second World War due to restrictions placed by the Nazi regime on smelting metals that were requisitioned for warfare. Unlike bronze sculpture, where multiples can be cast repeatedly from a single mould, a clay sculpture such as the illustrated figure exists as a single unique piece, modelled directly from the Master's hand.