Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000) Lot n° 22

Tête de jeune femme Terra cotta, signed on the back 19.5 x 10.5 x 11 cm - 7 5/8 x 4 1/8 x 4 1/4 in. Hauteur totale avec le socle : 25.5 cm - 10 in. Mr. and Mrs. D. have always visited the studios of artist friends and bought according to the occasion. This passion is in their genes, transmitted in particular by the father of Mr. D. who had studied pharmacy in Hanoi around 1925 and met Vũ Cao Đàm then. At the beginning of the 1930s, Mr. D.’s father, who had settled professionally in Paris, started an art collection that he would enrich throughout his life. At that time, he acquired the four sculptures of Vũ Cao Đàm, with whom he kept contact, and kept them as a souvenir of their youth in Hanoi, before passing them on to his son. In 1984, the Petit Robert defines sculpture in these terms: “Representation, suggestion of an object in space, by means of a material to which a determined form is imposed, with an aesthetic aim; all the techniques which allow this representation”. In Vietnam, until the creation of the Indochina School of Fine Arts in 1925, sculptures were intended for funerary or religious use. At the EBAI, courses in sculpture were taught and thus, the production of objects became decorative. Vũ Cao Đàm, who graduated valedictorian of the second class in 1931, joined this revival by choosing sculpture as his department. His talent was quickly recognized and allowed him to exhibit bronze pieces at the 1931 Universal Exhibition in Vincennes. His production of sculptures remains nevertheless rare. Although today Vũ Cao Đàm widely recognized for his talents as a painter, these four works recall the artist’s early love of sculpture and immortalize his unparalleled talent. This admirable Tête de jeune femme is made by the artist first of all in terracotta, the term for sculptures made of modeling clay and subjected to a firing process, thus offering a unique piece. In order to avoid any creation of bubbles or air pockets during the firing process, the terracotta is hollow and has an opening allowing the air to escape. Skillful, Vũ Cao Đàm offers here a unique work where the features and lines are particularly careful. The malleability of this material also allows the artist to render the graceful features of a female face, the fabric of a turban or even the texture of hair. If the general appearance retains its natural color, the artist brings a subtle red glaze – probably with a brush- on the mouth of his model.