MAI TRUNG THU known as MAI-THU (1906-1980). Indochina... Lot 3

MAI TRUNG THU known as MAI-THU (1906-1980). Indochina School of Fine Arts. Class of 1930. Young elegant woman in Ao daï, 1937. Pencil, black stone and watercolor highlights on framed paper, signed and dated lower right. Canson-Montgolfier embossed paper border. Dimensions: 64x48 cm (as seen). A graduate of the first class of the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine, 1937 was a pivotal year in Mai Thu's life and career. In this respect, the work we present is representative of a choice: to leave his native Vietnam for the Parisian effervescence already being tasted by his friends Lê Pho and Vu Cao Dam. A departure without return, without forgetting her first love: sentimentally perhaps, artistically without the slightest doubt. Is this face that of Mademoiselle Phuong, with whom he is head over heels in love, or is she one of those elegant ao dai women of sweet, angelic beauty he paints without moderation? Leaning back, hands clasped in a gesture of great delicacy, the model dressed in traditional áo dài is intended to be the embodiment of an ideal Vietnam, where the purity of the white linen that encircles her hair, a symbol of respect, combines with the beauty of the young woman to bring out calm and elegance. Gesture less than posture, face less than áo dài, Mai Thu represents the living, forsaking the inert, which he evokes with a few quick, precise strokes. The subject is the young woman, whether real or an allegory of a memory, but very much alive here. The work will appear in the artist's catalog raisonné currently being prepared by Mai Lan Phuong, Mai Thu's successor.