Pham Hau (1903-1995)

A subject dear to the Vietnamese painter, the rapids at Cho-Bo, near Hanoi, inspired this shimmering lacquer panel.

The Vietnamese painter is sure to make a splash once again with a large lacquer work enhanced with gold, alongside a Chinese seal and a Mongolian sculpture from the 18th century.

They were the stars of this tenth chapter of sales dedicated to the traditional and modern art of the Southeast Asian country. Under the hammer of Lynda Trouvé, a painting by Alix Aymée and a lacquer screen by Pham Hau raised €206,720 and €516,800, respectively, at Drouot on March 9, ten times their estimate.

Pham Hau’s folding screen nearly sets a world record and Alix Aymé breaks one.

Carp frolicking on a folding screen by Pham Hau did not clam up before Alix Aymé’s nudes. Neither did bidders.

Solid success for Coutau-Bégarie at Drouot, where bids reached 218,960 € for "Paestum, Buffaloes Herd" by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 231 840 € for a lacquered wood painting by Pham Hau - a French record for the artist, 59,248 € for a Neapolitan box and 113,344 € for a superb enameled plate.

The French painter, who lived in Vietnam where she contributed to the revival of interest in the art of lacquerware, set a new world record with a Nude with Lotuses, done in oil around 1938. It was offered by Aguttes alongside a screen by Pham Hau, which obtained the second highest result for the artist at €833,000.

It seems to be true that sales of Vietnamese art regularly achieve excellent results, setting ever more new records.

Records and preemptions were on the agenda, with examples in a variety of artistic disciplines reaching high prices.

Weiwei pretended to check tickets in the Munich institution in protest to its plans to lay off 48 low-paid workers due to financial straits, while continuing to buy expensive works of art. According to The Art Newspaper, he confirmed that managing director Bernhard Spies promised the dismissal would no longer go ahead.