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an image of a four panel screen with a painting of a man on horsebackan image of a painting of a box with a chinese writing on ita large yellow screen with birds flying over a treepainting of two birds flying in the sky on a yellow backgrounda painting on the wall of a building with a bird flying in the skyan image of a painting of a pagoda with a tree in the foregroundan image of a painting of a landscape with trees in the foregroundan orange and yellow painting on a wooden stand against a gray background
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140 - PHAM HAU (1903–1994)
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Estimate €80,000 - €120,000
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Description
PHAM HAU (1903–1994) A six-panel lacquer screen with decoration on both sides; one side depicts a harvesting scene in the rice fields, featuring by peasants beneath flamboyant trees, in a palette of brown, red and gold, enhanced with eggshell inlays. The reverse side features motifs on a gold ground, with an engraved design of five cranes, four in flight and one perched on a pine branch. Double signature of the artist in the lower left-hand corner, in cursive script. The artist’s seal and a mark depicting an incense burner in the bottom right-hand corner (on the engraved side). Minor losses and wear. Dimensions of each panel: 115 × 32.5 cm Overall dimensions: 115 × 195 cm Provenance: Acquired in Vietnam in the mid-20th century by the current owner’s grandparents. A deposit will be required from all bidders for this lot. Biography Born in 1903 in the village of Đông Ngạc in Ha Dong province, Pham Hau was a Vietnamese artist belonging to the first generation of artists to establish lacquer as a true pictorial medium. His training in this technique made him a pioneer in the production of lacquered furniture and other objects. His meeting with the artist Nguyen Nam Son proved decisive in his career. He graduated from the Hanoi School of Fine Arts in 1934. The founding of his National School of Crafts in 1949 – the country’s first university of applied arts, which remains active today under the name University of Industrial Fine Art – demonstrates his commitment to the development and transmission of his knowledge. One screen, two masterpieces The uniqueness of this screen lies in its double-sided nature, with each side employing a distinct technical approach and its own iconography. On one side, Pham Hau favours an engraved or incised design against a background of gilded lacquer. The design emerges from the line. The pine needles, the bark of the trunks and the plumage of the cranes are defined by precise incisions and lines reminiscent of the Coromandel lacquer technique. Works by Pham Hau executed using a comparable technique bear witness to his interest in this alternative means of expression offered by lacquer. The theme chosen by Pham Hau is that of ‘Tùng Hạc’, the traditional motif of the pine and the crane. The pine, a symbol of resilience and longevity, harmonises with the cranes, which are also associated with a form of spiritual elevation – ‘Tùng Hạc diên niên’, a wish for longevity. Pham Hau does not merely replicate a conventional stylistic repertoire. He refines and elevates it to a monumental scale. A long pine branch stretches across the panels as a continuous flow, whilst the cranes—one perched, the others soaring through the sky—bring the vast golden space to life, inviting the viewer into a state of silence and contemplation. The reverse side, by contrast, embraces the full pictorial richness of traditional polychrome lacquer, employing the artist’s characteristic colour palette of red, brown, ochre and gold, with the eggshell finish lending texture to the light. Pham Hau moves away from the symbolic realm to evoke the Tonkin countryside and the work in the rice fields. The golds illuminate the crops, whilst the deep reds and browns lend the earth an almost abstract presence. The landscapes and rice fields of Tonkin are among the subjects to which Pham Hau regularly returns in his work. Thus, the timelessness of the pine tree and the cranes is counterbalanced by the cyclical rhythm of the harvest; the golden sky and the silence of the first side are counterbalanced by the earth, labour and movement of the second. The presence of Pham Hau’s signature on both sides is significant in this regard. It invites us to consider each side not as a decorative reverse of the other, but as two genuine works of art in their own right.
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About the sale ASIAN ARTS
Auction location
Auction time 10/01/2026 at 2:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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