NGUYEN TU NGHIEM (VIETNAM, B. 1922)

An artist can never be codified. And among the 2nd generation Vietnamese artists such as Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Sang, Duong Bich Lien and Nguyen Tu Nghiem, the latter is probably the most challenging to understand, due to the complexity of his vision and talent.

Indeed, one cannot approach his work superficially by just seeing in it a celebration of old times, like for example the present lot Ancient Dance (Lot 309) here, or even finding naivety in all his work. Nguyen Tu Nghiem is a 'de-constructor' of the highest degree, and the painting presented here is probably the strongest example to illustrate this.

It is the result of a perfect technique in mastering a firework of tones, revealing a talented painter who chose to go all the way in his approach: the faces deliberately do not show a single line, the dancers' belts and the headgears seem to weave along with the movement, the background intensely charged, all of which add to create a psychedelic ambiance; where the plethora of tones is allowed through a perfect mastery of the lacquer technique. It is an atmosphere of an imminent end of the world evoked here by Nguyen Tu Nghiem: a respectable ancient world vanishes and in its sublimation that will give birth to a modern world.

Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Vietnamese Art