“To harmonize his own temperament and his technique, Le Pho has preserved the process of painting on silk. The very delicacy of the material on which the painting is executed demands a refinement of design and of color to which present-day art is not accustomed. But it is precisely this recourse to the art of another age which demonstrates the audacity of an artist and the interest inherent in his efforts.”
The Sublime Beauty: Le Pho’s Jeune fille à la fleur
An exquisite and mesmerizing masterpiece, Jeune fille à la fleur (Lot 27) is an exceptionally rare silk painting that epitomizes Le Pho’s unparalleled technical mastery in handling this delicate, traditional medium, as well as his ability to articulate the sublime beauty of femininity. The present work gracefully renders the quintessential theme of a young lady enjoying the sweet fragrance of the flower in her hand, while taking a stroll in a beautiful and otherworldly botanical garden. An early work executed before Le Pho would employ looser brushwork and work primarily with oil paint, this alluring image hails from a crucial period in the artist’s oeuvre, when the artist employed the more unforgiving medium of ink and gouache on silk.
Rendering a window into the idyllic existence of the Vietnamese elite and the rich history of Vietnam’s treasured past, the picture plane is dominated by a young lady garbed in a traditional dress. She stands before an enigmatic landscape in a manner that echoes classical portraiture from the Renaissance. In contrast to the yellow and bright backdrops of his later, Findlay period, the present work depicts an ethereal, moonlit ambience set in the early evening. Depicted with an elaborate sense of depth, the verdant background features a mountainous valley and dense forests flourished with rosy blossoms receding into the distance, echoing the background portrayed in Le Pho’s iconic Harmony in Green: The Two Sisters in the collection of the National Gallery Singapore.
Le Pho conjures the senses, gracefully rendering the young lady enjoying the fragrance of a flower, an important and recurring motif in the artist’s opus, which symbolizes purity and captures the essence of femininity. Her features are delicate and her countenance unfettered, retaining her composure as she enjoys this private moment. The delicate depiction of a translucent and silky scarf wrapped around the maiden’s head conjure a sense of tactility to the scene. He uses a subtle, diaphanous color palette that complements the delicate nature of silk, lending the painting an ethereal quality.
A classically trained painter who was one of the first graduates of the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi, Le Pho was privileged to study under the highbrow tutelage of prominent French artists Victor Tardieu and Joseph Inguimberty. His undeniable flair had led him to a scholarship to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was able to witness European masterworks first-hand. His formative training equipped him with the ability to incorporate the best of Western technical artistry, while developing fresh approaches to convey a Vietnamese cultural identity that was otherwise mysterious to most of the world. A work of timeless beauty that serves as a testament to the artist’s sophisticated mastery of techniques and the glorious heights of Vietnamese modernism, Jeune fille à la fleur is a fine and elaborate composition, exemplifying such conceptual synthesis and artistic innovation.
黎譜肖像
「絹本這種媒材非常符合黎譜的性情和技巧。這種材質非常精緻，對設計和色彩處理要求極高，在當今藝術世界當中甚爲罕見。這是屬於另一個時代藝術，黎譜對這種藝術尋求正好展示了藝術家的膽量和創作熱情。」
昇華之美：黎譜《女子與花》
《女子與花》(拍品編號 27) 精緻迷人，堪稱大師傑作，是一幅極為罕見的絹本畫，體現了黎譜處理絲綢的精湛造詣，也展現了他表現女性高貴氣質的獨到技巧。本作描繪畫中年輕女性一邊在優美寧靜的植物園中漫步，一邊感受手中鮮花香氣的情景，氣質優雅動人，是黎譜作品的典型主題。這是黎譜的早期作品，來自黎譜以水墨水粉絹本的關鍵時期，後來他改以油彩作爲主要創作媒材，筆法亦變得較爲鬆弛。相比之下，水墨水粉絹本對作畫者的細膩筆法要求更高。
本作展示了越南上流社會的悠閒生活，帶出越南的悠久歷史底蘊。畫中主角是一位身穿傳統服飾的年輕女性，她站在神秘的風景之前，站姿與文藝復興時期的古典肖像畫互相呼應；傍晚時分月光下空靈的氛圍，與黎譜後來的芬德利時期明亮的黃色背景形成鮮明對比。從近景開始，先見繁茂花叢，遠處逐漸可見起伏山丘的和蔥鬱的密林，這個背景的處理手法與新加坡國家美術館收藏黎譜的《綠林雙姝》頗有異曲同工之妙。
持花聞香的年輕女性形象是黎譜作品中非常重要而且重複出現的主題，象徵純潔，細緻地捕捉了女性的獨特氣質。畫中的少女五官精緻，神情安謐，正享受著這寧靜私密的一刻。黎譜以細膩的筆觸描繪少女頭上披著一條半透明的絲質圍巾，畫面富有觸感，微妙的透明色調與絲綢的精緻特性相輔相成，賦予畫面一種空靈的特質。
黎譜曾接受古典西洋美術訓練，是河內中南半島美術學院的首批畢業生，師承著名法國藝術家維克多・塔迪歐及約瑟夫・恩桂波提。他以過人的天賦獲得巴黎美術學院的獎學金，在那裡親身接觸歐洲藝術。他的早年藝術根底讓他能夠將西方藝術的技巧精髓收爲己用，同時開闢新徑，在世界各地對越南文化認識甚少的年代以畫作展現越南文化身份。《女子與花》有著一種永恆之美，展示了黎譜精湛的技巧，也見證了越南現代主義的輝煌成就，體現出黎譜融合中西的概念和創新。