.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
A great painter is always a witness of his time. For an observer, it would be a great mistake not to understand this. As a witness, the painter is a part of the making of history and he is an illustrator feeding us with clues and signs to alert and to encourage us.
Joseph Inguimberty was misunderstood by his contemporaries but who, little by little, managed to unveil a much higher level of work even greater and more stupendous than they imagined. He was misunderstood by some, even while he was praised for the originality of his style. The quality of his subtle observations of nature and of the Vietnamese way of living are found very early in his work and his social analysis but are also rarely mentioned.
The art piece presented here is a perfect illustration of this. It is important to understand firstly that originally the work was larger but the artist himself chose deliberately to reduce its dimensions. We can assume that the intention in reducing the size was to focus the attention on these four women, the four major figures at the centre of the work whereas the vegetation, usually so well described by the artist, remains, and rare in his work, secondary
.
An unconventional dichotomy is expressed with the following examples: the two nude women stand in a firm and almost lascivious attitude, right arm and hip extended provocatively, contrasting with the two ladies in their áo dài - one sitting on a stool in a lanky pose and a second appears slightly with drawn from the scene in the background. The headgear of the different women: the conical hat - the indispensable headgear used by the workers in the fields and the uncovered head in contrast with the hair set in a sophisticated bun for one and the a scarf for the other. The sensual beauty in the naked lady’s face on the right contrasts with the almost subdued face of the young lady sitting. In this improbable time in 1935, two different worlds balance against each other and the painter manages to grasp and fix that moment through this opposition of styles, this dissociation to express a conception and understanding of the world. A line is drawn between the future, presented in the context of bare feet trampling the land of Vietnam and a reference to a past with badly-fitted shoes on the seated lady.
The painting is enigmatic in its pictorial composition and the layered message is emphasized strongly by the choice of strong bold colours including the luminous white often used by the painter.
To better understand the time frame in which the painting was set, a reminder of what shaped the man Inguimberty is necessary. In 1925, when Joseph Inguimberty arrived in Vietnam, no one could have guessed or imagined that, twenty years later, he would have achieved a revolution in Vietnamese painting, leaving behind a rich legacy of artistic renewal and creation. He was then 29 years old, born in Marseille and attending the prestigious School of Beaux-Arts (Marseille) as well as the National School of Arts Décoratifs in Paris (at the age of 17) and was recognized in his work by receiving the Blumenthal prize in 1922. Extremely sensitive to social issues: he developed a fascination for the work force, first in Belgium during the early twenties then in Marseille between 1922 and 1924, years when he painted men working showing their great contribution to society. The Unloading of Peanuts , painted in 1922 and Marseille painted in 1924 are very telling of that strong influence. This is a man who at the age of 21 suffered injuries during the First World War and was therefore very aware of the tragedy of the world and its evanescence. Under the aegis of Victor Tardieu, he became a key factor to the success of the Fine Art School of Indochina. Created just a few months before his arrival, this institution would leave a mark for ever on Asian painting in the 20th century.
From 1925 to 1945, so many brilliant painters paid homage and their deepest respect to their outstanding teacher. He had his favourite students, early on with Tô Ngoc Vân and later with Nguyen Gia Tri among many others. He kept teaching oil techniques but for the teaching of lacquers he went beyond and transformed this decorative art into a true creative process. With the help of Alix Aymé, he was a relentless teacher committed to the great success of Vietnamese lacquer during this period.
Despite all, Inguimberty would bring all his students to absorb and acquire the very fundamental knowledge through classes on art history and the anatomy of the human body emphasizing on the study of nudes. It is agreed among teachers and students that the study of nudes is the most difficult subject: no weakness in the artist’s work could be hidden by ornamentations or decor. At the time Vietnam was very traditional and the school’s practice conflicted against the strong moral standards and prudish nature of the country. No students or visitors were allowed to pose as a model, and Victor Tardieu finally had to resort to prisoners who were punctually allowed out to exchange a few hours of modelling in front of attentive students for some extra comfort.
Joseph Inguimberty became and was highly regarded as the great French master painter of Vietnam. Only his love for this country, his quasi-carnal connection could reach this level of understanding of the people and their way to life allowing him to apprehend its destiny. Indeed, Inguimberty is not just a travel painter, or a foreigner but a painter describing his land. In art, it is fact, the land rights take precedence over blood rights.
Pierre Gourou writes: no one better than him could restitute this tropical light, so different to ours, this bright light, implacable, painful to the eyes, metallic, his white dazzling skies, the acidity in the greens during the wet season, a powerful vibration you can’t find in our latitudes.
Femmes Vietnamiennes is a major master piece. A profoundly innovative painting, executed in Hanoi in 1935, purely and quintessentially Vietnamese. Inguimberty’s paintings reveal the influence and remarkable understanding of his adopted country Vietnam through its strong themes and yet remains subtle and soft at the same time - a timeless example of an overall visual vivaciousness in the arts of 20th century Vietnam.
Jean-François Hubert Senior Consultant, Vietnamese Art
Joseph Inguimberty was misunderstood by his contemporaries but who, little by little, managed to unveil a much higher level of work even greater and more stupendous than they imagined. He was misunderstood by some, even while he was praised for the originality of his style. The quality of his subtle observations of nature and of the Vietnamese way of living are found very early in his work and his social analysis but are also rarely mentioned.
The art piece presented here is a perfect illustration of this. It is important to understand firstly that originally the work was larger but the artist himself chose deliberately to reduce its dimensions. We can assume that the intention in reducing the size was to focus the attention on these four women, the four major figures at the centre of the work whereas the vegetation, usually so well described by the artist, remains, and rare in his work, secondary
.
An unconventional dichotomy is expressed with the following examples: the two nude women stand in a firm and almost lascivious attitude, right arm and hip extended provocatively, contrasting with the two ladies in their áo dài - one sitting on a stool in a lanky pose and a second appears slightly with drawn from the scene in the background. The headgear of the different women: the conical hat - the indispensable headgear used by the workers in the fields and the uncovered head in contrast with the hair set in a sophisticated bun for one and the a scarf for the other. The sensual beauty in the naked lady’s face on the right contrasts with the almost subdued face of the young lady sitting. In this improbable time in 1935, two different worlds balance against each other and the painter manages to grasp and fix that moment through this opposition of styles, this dissociation to express a conception and understanding of the world. A line is drawn between the future, presented in the context of bare feet trampling the land of Vietnam and a reference to a past with badly-fitted shoes on the seated lady.
The painting is enigmatic in its pictorial composition and the layered message is emphasized strongly by the choice of strong bold colours including the luminous white often used by the painter.
To better understand the time frame in which the painting was set, a reminder of what shaped the man Inguimberty is necessary. In 1925, when Joseph Inguimberty arrived in Vietnam, no one could have guessed or imagined that, twenty years later, he would have achieved a revolution in Vietnamese painting, leaving behind a rich legacy of artistic renewal and creation. He was then 29 years old, born in Marseille and attending the prestigious School of Beaux-Arts (Marseille) as well as the National School of Arts Décoratifs in Paris (at the age of 17) and was recognized in his work by receiving the Blumenthal prize in 1922. Extremely sensitive to social issues: he developed a fascination for the work force, first in Belgium during the early twenties then in Marseille between 1922 and 1924, years when he painted men working showing their great contribution to society. The Unloading of Peanuts , painted in 1922 and Marseille painted in 1924 are very telling of that strong influence. This is a man who at the age of 21 suffered injuries during the First World War and was therefore very aware of the tragedy of the world and its evanescence. Under the aegis of Victor Tardieu, he became a key factor to the success of the Fine Art School of Indochina. Created just a few months before his arrival, this institution would leave a mark for ever on Asian painting in the 20th century.
From 1925 to 1945, so many brilliant painters paid homage and their deepest respect to their outstanding teacher. He had his favourite students, early on with Tô Ngoc Vân and later with Nguyen Gia Tri among many others. He kept teaching oil techniques but for the teaching of lacquers he went beyond and transformed this decorative art into a true creative process. With the help of Alix Aymé, he was a relentless teacher committed to the great success of Vietnamese lacquer during this period.
Despite all, Inguimberty would bring all his students to absorb and acquire the very fundamental knowledge through classes on art history and the anatomy of the human body emphasizing on the study of nudes. It is agreed among teachers and students that the study of nudes is the most difficult subject: no weakness in the artist’s work could be hidden by ornamentations or decor. At the time Vietnam was very traditional and the school’s practice conflicted against the strong moral standards and prudish nature of the country. No students or visitors were allowed to pose as a model, and Victor Tardieu finally had to resort to prisoners who were punctually allowed out to exchange a few hours of modelling in front of attentive students for some extra comfort.
Joseph Inguimberty became and was highly regarded as the great French master painter of Vietnam. Only his love for this country, his quasi-carnal connection could reach this level of understanding of the people and their way to life allowing him to apprehend its destiny. Indeed, Inguimberty is not just a travel painter, or a foreigner but a painter describing his land. In art, it is fact, the land rights take precedence over blood rights.
Pierre Gourou writes: no one better than him could restitute this tropical light, so different to ours, this bright light, implacable, painful to the eyes, metallic, his white dazzling skies, the acidity in the greens during the wet season, a powerful vibration you can’t find in our latitudes.
Femmes Vietnamiennes is a major master piece. A profoundly innovative painting, executed in Hanoi in 1935, purely and quintessentially Vietnamese. Inguimberty’s paintings reveal the influence and remarkable understanding of his adopted country Vietnam through its strong themes and yet remains subtle and soft at the same time - a timeless example of an overall visual vivaciousness in the arts of 20th century Vietnam.
Jean-François Hubert Senior Consultant, Vietnamese Art