Nguyen Nam Son (1890-1973), Cranes and fish | 阮南山, 白鶴與魚

This woodblock print bears three seals : 大南高等美術學堂 (Dai Nam Cao Dang My Thuat Hoc Duong/ Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Annam), 阮文壽 (Nguyen Van Tho), and 蘇玉雲 (To Ngoc Van).

Nguyen Van Tho is the actual name of Nam Son. This work was executed in 1927, when he was a professor of the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine. Next to his seal, we can see the seal of his student To Ngoc Van, which isn't the case in other editions, which signifies that To had participated in the realization of this individual piece.

These two seals stamped under the seal of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, were also used on some prints produced by other students-artists of this school, such as 'The Tonkin woman and the wise old woman' by Nguyen Tuong Tam, and 'On the bank of the Red River' by Do Duc Thuan.

The original mounting of this work has been conserved, with the stamp of the framer to the upper left of the reverse.

Comparer with other examples of the same print:

- L’Illustration, n° 4522, 2 November 1929, p. 512.

- Nam Phong, Hors-texte, n° 176, September 1932.

- Ngô Kim Khôi, Nam Son, sa vie, son oeuvre, manuscrit, p. 62-63.

- Musée Cernuschi, Du Fleuve Rouge au Mékong, Visions du Viet Nam, August 2012, Edition Findakly, Paris Musées, p.42.