Though it was initially expected to fetch 80,000 EUR, it ended up getting the highest bid at the ‘Indochine’ auction from April 14-21.
The 35.8 x 27.5 cm ink and color on silk work, created in 1960, depicts a mother carrying her child in her arms. They appear to be traditional Vietnamese, with the mother wearing a white 'ao dai.'
"This touching, intimist painting on silk is emblematic of the work of Le Thi Luu, suffused with the devoted love between mother and child," Sotheby’s wrote on its website.
Born in 1911, Luu was one of the first women students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d’Indochine (Indochina College of Fine Arts), and at 16 became its first woman painter.
She moved to Paris with her husband, Ngo The Tan, in the early 1940s. She immersed herself in her Vietnamese cultural roots with a series of ink and pigment works on silk in the 1950s.
Vietnamese women and children were her favorite subjects. She is well-known for her ability to combine colors, light and delicate strokes.
Her paintings have been exhibited at many galleries in Paris.
By 1962 she was teaching at many art schools in France such as Lycée Corot, Lycée Rodin Paris and Lycée d'Orsay. In 1971, she retired and moved to the south of France. She passed away in 1988.
‘Indochine’ was dedicated to Vietnamese arts of the 20th century, and 49 paintings, lacquer works and sculptures by the first graduates of the Indochina College of Fine Arts went under the hammer.
