Exemplary of Mai Trung Thu's elegiac flair and storytelling, Femmes et enfants au bord de la rivière (Lot 1041) radiates a mesmerizing sense of tranquility owing to the artist's thoughtful composition, brilliant use of colors, unique figuration, and superior brushwork. Scented with the artist's nostalgic love for a bygone era in Vietnam, this exceptionally rare silk painting provides a glimpse into the artist's personal experience and observations of his homeland that he left behind for France in the 1930s. Framed by a body of water and a traditional floating pavilion, the idyllic composition depicts women and children beside a lotus pond. Mai Thu captures a romantic, yet joyous familial moment, demonstrating his sensitivity towards human relationships and especially his celebration of the bond between mother and child. Each of Mai Trung Thu's figures are engrossed in their own activity, yet harmoniously co-exist. Their interactions are rhythmical and orderly, conjuring a scene of profound intimacy, humor, and symbolic meaning.
Executed in 1955, the present work is an elegant silk painting that captures the artist's stylistic evolution, simultaneously featuring the subtle palette of his early period and the vivid and bold colours of his later works. The jade green tones in lotus leaves, are echoed in some of the stronger hues in figures' clothing and in the rattan curtain at roof of the pavilion. The gradation of shading in the river, lends the work depth and creates a sense of movement and translucency in the body of water. Demonstrating the artist's mastering of the medium and delicacy of his brushwork at the height of his career while living in France, the current lot is a work of exceptional quality.
While Mai Thu is celebrated for his depiction of human figures, most of the works that surface in the market include only one or two individuals. Femmes et enfants au bord de la rivière stands as a highly rare work from the artist's oeuvre, depicting the interactions of three women and three children, including multiple allegorical narratives. At the top of the composition, two playful boys twirl with a stick in the water, creating ripples and seemingly peering out for fish. Another child beckons holds tight to his mother's leg, as he sits at the edge of the pavilion, his feet hanging right above the water. She affectionately pats his head and we can imagine her whispering comforting words.
The foreground of the present work shows a woman harvesting lotus flowers, while another leans against the balcony railings and smells the fresh fragrance of one the blooms. The subject of numerous folk songs, odes and poems, the lotus flower is an important symbol in Vietnamese culture, signifying purity, serenity and optimism.
The fact that the lotus—which habitually grows in murky waters with fertile alkaline mud—is still able to bear visually dazzling flowers blooming pristinely above the surface, untarnished and incorruptible by earthly impurities is also highly meaningful in Vietnam, and the imagery of the flower is often appropriated to allegorize the resilience and will of the Vietnamese people.
"In the pond there is no flowers as beautiful as the lotus, Green leaves, white petals and yellow seeds inside. Oh, yellow seeds, white petals and green leaves, Even though you grew in the mud of the pond, your smell is still perfumed"
Baignade, a direct comparable and one of the most iconic and recognizable Mai Thu works, is currently in the permanent collection of Musée Cernuschi, Paris. Both visually splendid and complex with narrative, these two museum quality works rank as top-quality works in artist's celebrated oeuvre, each depicting figures beside a body of water.
ink and colors on silk
H. 63 x W. 46cm
Gift of Mai, Lan Phuong
Musée Cernuschi, Musée des Arts de l'Asie de la Ville de Paris
《池邊戲水》(Lot 1041) 無論用色、人物造型和筆觸都極能展示梅忠恕的大師風範，構圖明顯經過深思熟慮，予人一種安謐寧靜之感，同時也將藝術家抒情敘事的天賦才華盡顯無遺。梅忠恕在 1930 年代離開越南後居於法國，這幅絹本畫傑作極其罕見，處處流露藝術家懷緬越南舊時代的深厚情感，讓觀者感受到他過去在祖國的生活點滴及個人觀感。本畫場景寧靜溫馨，描繪蓮池旁邊的婦女和兒童，水鄉中的涼亭襯托著優美如畫的風景。
作品細膩刻劃家庭歡聚的一刻，展示了他對人際關係（尤其是母子關係）的仔細觀察。 畫中每個人物都全神貫注於自己的活動，但氣氛卻非常和諧，各人之間的互動自有一種節奏和秩序，營造出一個無比親密卻又幽默風趣，同時充滿象徵意義的場景。
創作於1955年，《池邊戲水》展現了梅忠恕的風格演變。在色彩方面，本畫同時具備藝術家早期作品的柔和色調和後期作品的鮮豔大膽色彩。蓮葉的翠綠色調與亭台上方藤簾以及人物服裝的一些鮮艷色彩互相呼應。河流陰影的漸變，增加了畫面的深度，並增强了池水的動感和透明感。這幅畫是梅忠恕在法國生活期間、創作生涯巔峰時期的傑作，展示了他對媒材的充份掌握和筆觸的細膩精緻。雖然梅忠恕以描繪人物聞名，但市場上出現的大多數作品都只有一或兩個人。
《池邊戲水》是非常罕見的梅忠恕作品，描繪三位婦女和三個孩子的互動，敘事寫情，寓意豐富。在畫面上方兩個調皮的男孩似乎在尋找水中的魚兒，同時並攪動棍子讓池水泛起漣漪。另一個孩子緊抱著母親的腿，坐在涼亭的邊緣，雙腳懸在水面上，母親慈愛地輕拍孩子的頭，我們可以想像她在輕聲安慰孩子。這幅作品的前景是一個正在採蓮的婦女，而另一位婦女則靠在陽臺欄杆，手持鮮花聞香。蓮花是許多民謠、頌歌和詩詞的主題，在越南文化中有重要的象徵意義，代表純潔、寧靜和樂觀的心態。蓮花通常生長在鹼性的肥沃泥漿和渾濁的水中，可是仍然能夠開出高潔秀麗的花朵，不受塵世的腐敗污染，這在越南文化中別具意義，是越南民族堅韌刻苦的代表。
池塘裡沒有花朵能像蓮花一樣美麗，綠色的葉，白色的花瓣和黃色的種子都在裏頭。哦，黃色的種子，白色的花瓣和綠色的葉，即使你長在池塘的泥裡，氣味仍然芬芳
目前在巴黎賽努奇博物館永久收藏的《沐浴》是一部與本畫直接可比且極具標誌性和辨識度的梅忠恕精品。這兩件博物館級作品都以水池及人物為主題，在視覺上讓人目不暇給，同時又具備複雜的敘事性，絕對是梅忠恕的頂級傑作。