Le Pho

(1907-2001)

Les Bleuets

Footnotes

Provenance
Sotheby's Singapore, 3 October 1999, lot 141.
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner
Private Collection, Singapore

黎譜
花卉
約一九四八至一九五二年作

簽名：黎譜 le pho
油彩絹本

來源
新加坡，蘇富比，1999年10月3日，拍品編號141
現藏家得自上述來源
新加坡私人收藏

Les Bleuets is another example from Le Pho's Romanet period displaying the subtle and earthy tones of his palette during this time. An image of a painting within a painting appears in the upper-right corner—an extremely rare compositional feature in his body of work. The gold-framed artwork and the familiar atmosphere in this picture suggests that Le Pho was illustrating a scene right out of his own living room. The warm, sunny colours capture the light streaming in through the windows, while his energetic and expressive brushwork brings the work's familiar and intimate setting to life.

Freshly picked flowers, white peonies and yellow daisies interspersed with blue cornflowers are loosely displayed in a golden vase atop a red lacquer table, their branches bowing under the weight of the heavy blossoms. The choice of blue cornflowers, bleuet in French, is a touching symbol used to commemorate victims of war—a poignant stylistic element to feature in a painting elaborated shortly after World War II, between 1948-1952.