Sotheby’s is proud to present Le Pho’s The et sympathie (LOT 1017), a masterpiece from the artist’s Findlay Period depicting a leisurely afternoon tea session in a pleasant garden. Expansive in scale, with highly meticulous details and extensive depth, the current lot is a rare work from Le Pho’s prolific artistic career.

After graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi in 1930, Le Pho studied in Paris for two years, during which he was exposed to many great French artists, including the impressionist masters from whom he drew great inspiration. The Impressionist influences developed further as Le Pho began collaborating with the American art gallerist Wally Findlay in 1964, and reached a stylistic breakthrough by focusing on the medium of oil on canvas.

In The et sympathie, Le Pho invites his viewers to peer through branches and trees to witness an afternoon tea party in a tranquil garden. By employing oil on canvas, the artist utilizes a vibrant palette and applies detailed brushstrokes to capture the figures bathed under the sunlight, filtered through the foliage. The painting recalls the way Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir skillfully depicts the spotted sunlight scattered on the figures in his painting Bal du moulin de la Galette (1876), which also depicts figures socializing outdoors. Although both depict scenes of lively social gatherings, the current work shows a more serene gathering, reflecting Le Pho’s tender attribute that is often present in his other compositions.

As an Asian artist that arrived in Paris, the nucleus for the avant-garde, during a time when artists from around the world were finding creative refuge in the French capital, Le Pho embodied the voice of the Vietnamese diaspora. He carried that forward in his later years, when he began producing works for the American collector base. Rarely seen in his other compositions, Le Pho features figures hailing from diverse backgrounds in the present lot. The artist typically depicts Vietnamese women adorned in ao dai, a traditional Vietnamese garment. However, in The et sympathie, the figures are garbed in frocks, which were in vogue at the time. Not only does the depiction of Asian and Western societies testify for the assimilation, the clothing worn by the female figures are also indicative of this convergence of culture.

Spanning almost 2 meters in width, the present lot is one of the largest oil-on-canvas compositions by the artist to have appeared in the market. In the past 12 years, less than 10 works of this scale or larger have surfaced at auction. Receding into the distance is the vast space of the garden and figures in the background, while the foreground is accompanied with an abundance of details, as seen in the fruits and snacks served on the table. Typically, figurative compositions by Le Pho feature between one and six individuals, but The et sympathie showcases Le Pho’s ability to construct a complex composition including 11 figures, all while encompassing the most celebrated genres in his career: gardens, still life and figures. This composition is a celebration of Le Pho’s prolific and celebrated career as an Asian painter in the Western art market.

蘇富比誠獻一幅黎譜在芬尼時期所創作的《午後的茶敍》（拍品編號1017）, 作品描繪一眾仕女在景色宜人的花園裡度過悠閒的下午茶時光。本作尺幅宏大、細節刻畫入微、前後景築構出畫面深度，是黎譜創作甚豐的藝術生涯中不可多得的佳作。

黎譜1930年自河內中南半島美術學院畢業後，遠赴巴黎求學兩年，接觸了許多偉大法國藝術家的作品，包括一眾印象派大師的作品，令他深受啟發。1964 年，他開始與美國威利·芬尼畫廊（Wally Findlay Gallery）負責人威利·芬尼（Wally Findlay）合作，進一步磋琢印象派畫風，並同時專注以油彩畫布創作，突破往日的風格。

在這幅作品中，黎譜邀請觀者在樹木繁枝間一探寧靜花園中的下午茶會。他在帆布畫面上以明亮的油彩和細緻的筆觸刻畫出婆娑樹影下沐浴在陽光中的人物。這場景讓人想起印象派大師皮耶·奧古斯特·雷諾瓦1876 年的作品《煎餅磨坊的舞會》，該畫同樣以戶外社交場合為主題，巧妙地表現出灑在人物身上的斑駁光影。兩幅畫作均生動地描繪聚會的情景，但《午後的茶敍》的氣氛更謐静平和，流露黎譜作品中一貫的溫柔恬美。

上世紀初的巴黎是名副其實的藝術之都，匯集世界各地最前衛新潮的思想，許多藝術家紛紛慕名而至，黎譜亦不例外；他的作品洋溢越南的風情氣息，反映越南僑民的精神風貌。後期，他開始為美國藏家創作，但作品仍不改越南特色。不過，《午後的茶敍》有別於黎譜其他作品，畫中可見來自不同文化背景的人物。黎氏一般多以身穿越南傳統奧黛的越南婦女入畫，但本作中的人物穿著當時流行的連衣裙，可見藝術家除了藉著描繪東西方女性聚首暗示文化融合，亦在畫中女性的穿著上巧花心思以表達同一現象。

《午後的茶敍》寬約兩米，是市場歷來尺幅最大的黎譜油畫之一，尺幅相同或更大的作品，過去十二年來在拍賣場上出現過的少於十幅。本作中，廣闊的花園和多位仕女人物隨畫面深度漸次遠去，前景餐桌上的水果和小吃的細節亦非常豐富。黎氏的具象作品一般以一至六人為主，本作除了他擅長繪畫的花園、靜物和人物，構圖還因多達11位人物而變得複雜，但黎譜仍能輕鬆駕馭，畫出一片生動和諧的場景，可見其畫藝出眾，亦足證他以亞裔畫家身份在西方藝術市場創出一片天的實力。