An enthralling, large and early-period silk work by Vu Cao Dam Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage (Lot 1043) stands as a paragon of the Vietnamese silk paintings genre. Vu Cao Dam's silk works are quantifiably the rarest amongst the trio of the French Vietnamese artists (Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam and Mai Trung Thu. The maestro's earlier career was focused on sculpture-making, while his later career, post early 1940s, on oil painting. Given the diversity of Vu’s practice, encompassing sculpture, oil painting and lithography, the rarity of his early silk pieces is especially relevant. An important work within the broader tradition of Vietnamese silk painting, Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage contributes to and contextualizes this stylistic epoch, marked by a sense of delicacy, restraint and charm.Offering a charming glimpse into an intimate scene, Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage embodies Vu’s signature style, influenced by Western approaches of composition, Chinese visual qualities, and the ancient tradition of silk painting in Vietnam. The aesthetic focus of the painting centers upon the titular figure, centered in the foreground. Distant mountains trace the horizon as Vu embraces the romance of nature, drawing the recurring motif of women lounging outdoors from the French artistic tradition. When juxtaposed with Vu’s later works in which his subjects are set amidst more vibrant and saturated Impressionistic swathes of colour, Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage is painted with a restrained palette and sense of delicacy, exuding an ephemeral, dream-like quality that offers respite and stirs a deep sense of nostalgia.
Standing as a tribute to the dignity of the Vietnamese culture, Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage features a young Vietnamese woman garbed in an elegant, blue ao dai sitting on the grass in an open landscape. Even as the lady’s figure dominates the picture plane, her posture remains especially elegant and poise—with both of her knees and ankles bent tightly together and slanting on one side of her body, while her hands rest gently on one thigh with the elbows out sideways. Her rose-blushed cheeks with gaze cast sideways, away from the viewer, exudes her peaceful and reserved nature. Her features are rendered with fine, precise strokes—from lifelike wisps of her hair to the delicate outline of her nose and lips. While her countenance exudes an expression that is unperturbed and tranquil, her humble composure exerts its own subtle power.
The relatively large scale of this silk painting signifies Vu’s confidence over this challenging medium —a process requiring precise control over the pressures and direction of the paintbrush, and the strategic management of space, perspective and lighting. The artist utilizes a translucent, restrained palette of gentle white gouache, pastel blues, faint greens, and hints of taupe, indicative of the artist’s early period silk works. By first applying a wet wash over the silk’s surface, before using ink pigments to delineate forms and shapes, the artist skillfully creates a lucid translucency. Vu demonstrates a mastery of the ink brush and calligraphy, not only in the details of work but also in the labyrinth of softly applied thin strokes that form the lush greenery of the scene and the graceful, undulating forms and lines that accentuate the form of the maiden. A sensual masterwork, Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage conveys the gentle elegance of the modern woman through the eyes of a pioneering maestro, ultimately offering the viewer a captivating yet dreamlike encounter with beauty. The appearance of early silk paintings by Vu on the market are especially salient given the impressive versatility of the artist's practice. Additionally, Jeune femme en bleu dans un paysage is the largest ink and gouache on silk for a single figure and the third largest silk by the artist to have appeared on the auction market. 9 out of 10 current auction records are in the same silk medium, showing the extreme desirability of these early silk works.
武高談早年的大幅絹本作品《藍色風景中的少女》（拍品編號 1043）是越南絹本畫的珍貴典範。武高談的絹本畫是三位法裔越南藝術家（黎譜、武高談和梅忠恕）之中最為稀有的。這位大師早期的藝術生涯專注於創作雕塑，而直到後來40 年代則專注於油畫創作。他從藝之初以創作雕塑為主，後來則集中在油畫創作，因此他的絹本作品非常少。武氏一生創作頗豐，包羅雕塑、油畫、石版畫等，因此他的早期絹本傑作尤顯重要。廣義上的越南絹本畫經歷長時間醞釀，在1925至1945年間發展成形。《藍色風景中的少女》畫面清麗雅致，克制內斂，卻蘊含迷人魅力，體現了那個時代的絹本畫藝術的風格特色。《藍色風景中的少女》以一個獨自靜處的女子為畫面焦點，集西式構圖、中式視覺元素、越南絹本畫傳統等各方面影響於一身，展現武高談的典型風格。武氏喜愛表現大自然的浪漫氛圍，反覆繪畫女子徜徉在戶外環境中，背景的遠山沿地平線伸延，這是法國繪畫傳統的常見主題。武氏的後期作品當中，人物通常置身於以印象派風格塗抹的背景，色彩明亮飽和；與之相比，本作用色較為含蓄淡雅，氣氛如夢飄渺，引起觀者悠悠的懷舊情緒。
《藍色風景中的少女》是向越南文化致意的作品，畫中的年輕女子身穿優雅的藍色奧黛，坐在空曠的草地上。即使女子形象佔據了整個畫面，她的姿態特別優雅和沈著，雙膝和腳踝緊緊地彎曲在一起並傾斜在身旁的一側，同時她的雙手輕輕地放在大腿上，肘部向側面伸出。武氏都以細膩精準的筆觸描繪女子的五官，栩栩如生的髮絲到小巧精緻的鼻子，還有那玫瑰紅的臉頰，雙目側視，遠離觀眾。她神色自若，沉穩的姿態卻散發出一種溫和的力量。
此作尺幅相對較大，可見武氏對於運用難以駕馭的絹本畫十分自信。在絹本上作畫需要嚴格控制運筆力度和方向，也需要掌握配置空間、視角、光線等元素的技巧。藝術家採用婉約的白色水粉、粉藍、淡綠，以及隱然可見的灰褐，配色含蓄柔美，反映其早年絹本畫的特徵。他利用墨彩建構不同形狀之前，先在絹面渲染一層水粉，巧妙營造半透明效果。此作充滿精巧細節，少女身姿線條優美，起伏流暢有致，綠草鬱鬱蔥蔥，筆觸輕柔細密，盡展藝術家的筆墨技巧，造詣非凡。《藍色風景中的少女》瀰漫一片旖旎溫柔，表現這位越南現代藝術先鋒眼中現代女性的優雅風度，為觀者帶來如夢似幻的美麗邂逅。考慮到武高談作品的多面性，他在市場上的早期絹本作品是最被關注的。本作是目前為止武高談在拍賣上出現過最大尺幅的單人肖像絹本畫，亦同時是在拍賣上出現過第三大幅絹本畫，非常難得。在藝術家全球個人拍賣紀錄當中，前十名當中有九件是屬絹本媒材，可見此時期的作品深受藏家追捧。
