After decades belongingto galleries and exhibitions outside Vietnam, several works by famousVietnamese painters have been returned to the country thanks toextraordinary efforts of a Vietnamese art collector, Nguyen Minh.
Nurturing a dream of creating an exhibition showcasing only artworksby successive student generations of the Indochina College of Fine Arts(L'École des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine), Minh has devoted his efforts,along with significant amounts of money, to move closer to his dream.
The artists, including Bui Xuan Phai, Le Pho, Vu CaoDam, Mai Trung Thu, and Le Thi Luu, are known for having laid the firstessential "tiles" for the development of Vietnamese modern art at thebeginning of the 20th century.
Within only sixmonths, from May to October, Minh attended several art auctionsthroughout the world to bid on Vietnamese artworks. His goal seemedincreasingly successful when he won the bidding for six Vietnamesepaintings at an auction in Hong Kong in October. Among those artworkswere three by Le Pho, two by Vu Cao Dam, and one by Le Thi Luu.
"Despite my success in bidding on those six paintings, I still regretthat I had to give up the biddings for other Vietnamese paintings. Icouldn't compete with some bidders, who offered very high prices forthose," Minh said.
Earlier in May, Minh also won thebidding for the silk paintings Maternite by Vu Cao Dam, and theLandscape with Fishing Boat by Nguyen Tuong Lan at an auction at thefamous Christie's in Hong Kong.
An outstanding item at the auction, the 1934 painting by Nguyen Tuong Lan had a starting price from 25,600 USD.
"It really was fierce bidding for me. I had to compete with anothertough bidder, who showed great interest in the painting," he said,without revealing the price he paid for the artwork.
In the same month, Minh won four other pieces by Vu Cao Dam. Thepaintings include the Gossip, Spring, Two Lovers and Lovers in aLandscape.
Created in 1964 when the artist moved toFrance, the four paintings not only depict Vietnamese landscape andpeople, but "they reflect the artist's nostalgia", Minh said.
According to the collector, it is a long and difficult journey before he can bring home a painting.
"Firstly, I have to find the clue to the Vietnamese paintings, whichmight belong to different exhibitions, galleries and auctioneers inEurope and the US," said Minh.
"Once I learn about apainting, I just expected its owner to put it under hammer an auction,and then I would have a chance to fight for it. However, auction biddingis another tough fight, which requires solid strategies from insiders.In addition, in comparison with other international bidders, myfinancial budget is less well-off."
Besides the costfor the painting, the bidder has to bear the taxes, plus otheradditional fees, including commissions for auctioneers, about 15-30percent of the painting's value, and transportation insurance, about15-20 percent of the value of the painting.
The extremely complicated export-import procedure is another challenge.
At an auction at Christie's in Hong Kong, Minh could not follow thebidding for the Rice Seller by master painter Nguyen Phan Chanh untilthe end.
"When a bidder paid 60,000 USD for thispiece, I had to give up because that price was beyond my budget. Thepainting then was sold at 390,000 USD – a record price for a work by aVietnamese painter," he said.
However, Minh said he had mixed feelings at that time.
"I was very happy because a Vietnamese painting was sold with quite ahigh price, but at the same time, I was quite sad. The more expensivethe painting is, the more difficult for Vietnamese collectors to bringthem back to Vietnam."
Continuing his tireless efforts, Minh travels to many other auctions.
In July, Minh won the bidding at an auction at MatsartAutioneer&Appraisers in Jerusalem, Israel, bringing home the Bouquetby Le Pho.
Subsequently, he brought back to Vietnamanother painting by Le Pho, the Sunflower, from the American auctioneerBrunk Auctions and the Mère et enfant by Vu Cao Dam from the Susanin'sAuctions in the US.
Minh seems not to tire in his ability to bring back Vietnam's expensive artworks.
In August, he won the bidding for the Lady with Flowers by Le Pho atthe Borobudur Auction in Singapore, following his winning theoil-on-canvas La Recontre by Vu Cao Dam at the Leland Little Auction inthe US in September.
Now, the collector expects his "dream" exhibition will open soon.
"Once I collect 10 paintings by Le Pho (I currently own six), 10pieces by Vu Cao Dam (I now have eight), and some others by Le Thi Luuand Mai Trung Thu, I will introduce them to art lovers," he said.-VNA
Nurturing a dream of creating an exhibition showcasing only artworksby successive student generations of the Indochina College of Fine Arts(L'École des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine), Minh has devoted his efforts,along with significant amounts of money, to move closer to his dream.
The artists, including Bui Xuan Phai, Le Pho, Vu CaoDam, Mai Trung Thu, and Le Thi Luu, are known for having laid the firstessential "tiles" for the development of Vietnamese modern art at thebeginning of the 20th century.
Within only sixmonths, from May to October, Minh attended several art auctionsthroughout the world to bid on Vietnamese artworks. His goal seemedincreasingly successful when he won the bidding for six Vietnamesepaintings at an auction in Hong Kong in October. Among those artworkswere three by Le Pho, two by Vu Cao Dam, and one by Le Thi Luu.
"Despite my success in bidding on those six paintings, I still regretthat I had to give up the biddings for other Vietnamese paintings. Icouldn't compete with some bidders, who offered very high prices forthose," Minh said.
Earlier in May, Minh also won thebidding for the silk paintings Maternite by Vu Cao Dam, and theLandscape with Fishing Boat by Nguyen Tuong Lan at an auction at thefamous Christie's in Hong Kong.
An outstanding item at the auction, the 1934 painting by Nguyen Tuong Lan had a starting price from 25,600 USD.
"It really was fierce bidding for me. I had to compete with anothertough bidder, who showed great interest in the painting," he said,without revealing the price he paid for the artwork.
In the same month, Minh won four other pieces by Vu Cao Dam. Thepaintings include the Gossip, Spring, Two Lovers and Lovers in aLandscape.
Created in 1964 when the artist moved toFrance, the four paintings not only depict Vietnamese landscape andpeople, but "they reflect the artist's nostalgia", Minh said.
According to the collector, it is a long and difficult journey before he can bring home a painting.
"Firstly, I have to find the clue to the Vietnamese paintings, whichmight belong to different exhibitions, galleries and auctioneers inEurope and the US," said Minh.
"Once I learn about apainting, I just expected its owner to put it under hammer an auction,and then I would have a chance to fight for it. However, auction biddingis another tough fight, which requires solid strategies from insiders.In addition, in comparison with other international bidders, myfinancial budget is less well-off."
Besides the costfor the painting, the bidder has to bear the taxes, plus otheradditional fees, including commissions for auctioneers, about 15-30percent of the painting's value, and transportation insurance, about15-20 percent of the value of the painting.
The extremely complicated export-import procedure is another challenge.
At an auction at Christie's in Hong Kong, Minh could not follow thebidding for the Rice Seller by master painter Nguyen Phan Chanh untilthe end.
"When a bidder paid 60,000 USD for thispiece, I had to give up because that price was beyond my budget. Thepainting then was sold at 390,000 USD – a record price for a work by aVietnamese painter," he said.
However, Minh said he had mixed feelings at that time.
"I was very happy because a Vietnamese painting was sold with quite ahigh price, but at the same time, I was quite sad. The more expensivethe painting is, the more difficult for Vietnamese collectors to bringthem back to Vietnam."
Continuing his tireless efforts, Minh travels to many other auctions.
In July, Minh won the bidding at an auction at MatsartAutioneer&Appraisers in Jerusalem, Israel, bringing home the Bouquetby Le Pho.
Subsequently, he brought back to Vietnamanother painting by Le Pho, the Sunflower, from the American auctioneerBrunk Auctions and the Mère et enfant by Vu Cao Dam from the Susanin'sAuctions in the US.
Minh seems not to tire in his ability to bring back Vietnam's expensive artworks.
In August, he won the bidding for the Lady with Flowers by Le Pho atthe Borobudur Auction in Singapore, following his winning theoil-on-canvas La Recontre by Vu Cao Dam at the Leland Little Auction inthe US in September.
Now, the collector expects his "dream" exhibition will open soon.
"Once I collect 10 paintings by Le Pho (I currently own six), 10pieces by Vu Cao Dam (I now have eight), and some others by Le Thi Luuand Mai Trung Thu, I will introduce them to art lovers," he said.-VNA
