NGUYEN TRUNG (VIETNAM, B. 1940)

After the reunification of Vietnam in 1975, the artist was expected to be the servant of the socialist cause: the obligatory subjects and themes were men or women as heroes, as soldiers, as workers. Ho Chi Minh was held up as the mythical figure par excellence. Nguyen Trung however, never agreed to join this movement. He then continued his personal approach in abstract Art and at the same time kept painting the distant and beautiful Vietnamese woman almost vanishing in an environment punctuated by flowers in their freshness. Women distinguished, elegant but always humble like in our captivating Reclining Lady (Lot 310) executed in 1999 which subtly illustrates the answer to the dogmatic mentioned above; here our Lady dreams more than she sleeps.

The painter can master both oil on canvas and work on lacquer but more rarely used the latter, a more demanding and complex process needing a high level of diligence.

Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert Vietnamese Art