Le Pho, c. 1940, « Portrait of Nina Curtis », or nostalgia for the future

Our painting was undoubtedly created in 1940, a tragic year in Europe marked by war, desolation, and devastation, which brought about the end of an era.

Le Pho has continued to immerse himself in this world since choosing to leave Hanoi, his position as a professor at the Fine Arts Academy, and his Art Deco-furnished house near the “Small Lake” to move to Paris three years earlier, in 1937, after his first stay in 1931-32.

As the appointed artistic director of the Indochinese section of the World’s Fair, he watched with concern the symbolic confrontation between the Nazi and Soviet pavilions. He also admired and felt saddened by Picasso’s Guernica in the Spanish pavilion.

Against this heavy and somber backdrop, Le Pho painted this masterful portrait, perhaps the most subtle of all his works.

He uses a background he had previously used in the early 1930s. The gouache is expressed as a solid beige band at the top, a lighter beige tone extending down to the left, and a bluish tone extending down to the right, which seems to emanate from the armchair.

There is no peripheral decoration, a feature that the painter often incorporates into his works. Pho alternates and contrasts whites and beiges, creating a contrast between a luminous subject and a neutral background. Note the moderate use of ink, which is mainly reserved for the hair and the wood of the chair.

The hairstyle is strict and the expression is confident, supported by plucked eyebrows, light lipstick, and slightly dark circles under the eyes that do not focus on the artist.

There is no smile. Note that Le Pho pays particular attention to the hands in this portrait. The right hand rests on the armrest while the left hand, with a wedding ring on the ring finger, makes an unusual gesture.

The lady’s high social status is confirmed by a three-strand necklace of fine pearls, commonly known as the “Queen’s Necklace,” and an embroidered silk chiffon dress. The French Regency or early Louis XV chair with its high back and recessed armrests also confirms her status; these features allowed dresses with hoops to gain volume once the lady was seated.

The chair is upholstered in beautiful, embroidered silk damask. The backrest is covered in mink lined with red silk.

Everything here is extremely sophisticated, exuding high social status.

However, our lady’s seated position is surprising; she is sitting on the armrest of the chair, as if she does not want to accept her status too quickly.

There is a preparatory drawing for our work that is smaller in size (64.5 x 42.5 cm compared to 76 x 52 cm here) and signed (without a stamp) and dated 1940.

In addition to confirming the date, this drawing shows that the artist initially wanted to focus on facial expressions and clothing details, as well as the back of the chair. Conversely, we note the absence of certain details, such as the necklace.

While her identity remains uncertain, based on family information, it seems plausible that she was Ralph Wormeley Curtis Jr.’s (1908-1973) first wife, Césarine Amélie Marie Harjes (1899-1949), whom he married in 1930. It should be noted that “Nina” was a family nickname for her, as “Bino” was for Ralph Jr.

It is also plausible that the painting was not created at the family’s Villa Sylvia in Cap Ferrat, which was sold in 1936, but rather at the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice, where Ralph Jr. and his wife primarily resided. The history of Vietnamese painting is slowly being written, and there is no doubt that the future will bring further clarification. For further context, Ralph Jr.’s grandparents, Daniel and Ariana Curtis, purchased and restored the magnificent Renaissance palace on Venice’s Grand Canal in 1885. It quickly became a center of artistic and literary life, particularly for expatriate Americans.

Henry James frequently stayed there, and Robert Browning gave poetry readings there. Claude Monet painted the Palazzo Contarini-Polignac, located on the opposite side of the canal. Bernard Berenson, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Crown Princess Victoria (future Empress of Germany), and Queen Louise of Sweden frequented its magnificent rooms.

In this masterful work, though not yet influenced by Bonnard and Matisse, Le Pho establishes himself as the heir to the Flemish Primitives he so admired. Here, he continues the major genre of portraiture, moving away from the religious to the secular in an attempt to reveal the psychology of his subjects.

This portrait and its disappearing history are evidence that it is a brilliant world. The artist experiences it with passion and tragedy. It is the story of Nina Curtis, but also his own story, which he experienced very early on in Vietnam. He is the son of the Viceroy of Tonkin.

It is a nostalgia for the future.

All of this is contained in this breathtaking portrait.

Jean-François Hubert