« Le Retour du Marché » (Coming back from the market), 1933, « Les Trois Femmes » (Three women), 1934 et « L’Heure du Thé à Hué » (Tea time in Hué) 1937, by Joseph Inguimberty, Nguyen Gia Tri and Mai Trung Thu, or the sovereign crystallization of desire

Three artists with different projects and techniques come together historically to create three icons of Vietnamese painting.

Inguimberty or the desire to bear witness to a fading world.

Joseph Inguimberty uses a rich palette, predominantly consisting of white and green hues. He utilizes “flat tints” and “matter,” treating volume through juxtaposed patches of color. The artist uses brushes and painting knives in substantial gestures, thereby creating an impression of vibrating space. In this manner, he “illuminates” his primary figures, meticulously delineating them from the luxuriant vegetation.

Palanche, clothes, hats, vegetation, light, dog, gestures: perfectly described by Inguimberty, who usually doesn’t indulge in decoration. He acts as an attentive observer as shown, for example, in the detail of the lacquered teeth of the young woman on the right.

He finds this rural world fascinating, harsh but pure and not lacking in elegance. He senses its imminent dissolution, and his paintings serve as a tribute to it.

Nguyen Gia Tri or the desire to create another world.

Nguyen Gia Tri, on the other hand, uses his brush in thick colors – though with a more limited palette than his master Inguimberty. A tormented but restrained execution. Tonkin, proud and poised, Annam, austere but attentive, and Cochinchina, immature and unpredictable, are symbolized but also allusively characterized and magnified. From left to right, the highly committed Tonkinese nationalist militant campaigns courageously and passionately for the reunification of the three and the independence of the whole.

A different world to create.

At the foreground, a piece of furniture, more of a plinth than a support, concentrates the trio. In the background, a diffuse horizon centers the scene with a different message.

Mai Trung Thu or the desire to honor a world he is leaving behind.

In the first half of 1937, Mai Thu sensed that he was about to leave his secure social comfort for the turbulent France he dreamed of.

In what would be his last painting in Vietnam, we see scholars talking, steaming tea to aid concentration, a water pipe, a lighter nearby, and a book (of poetry?). An attentive child. A young woman holding another child. Eight figures – if we can identify one – sketched in the upper right corner. Lush vegetation, but dominated by man. An oasis of peace, a winter garden, almost a sanctuary. Hué. You can feel the gentle flow of the Perfume River, which must flow peacefully a little further on.

A world he is leaving behind.

Mai Thu works essentially with four tones (green, brown, white, black) in flat tones. Black structures the work, green and white lighten it, brown unifies it. The thin line anticipates the technique of gouache and ink on silk the painter would later favor.

The same quest for meaning, prestigious origins and eye-catching appeal.

Our three paintings are meanings based on sovereign crystallization.

All 3 artists use oil on canvas. This is usual for Inguimberty, but exceptional for Nguyen Gia Tri, who prefers lacquer, while Mai Trung Thu later favors gouache and ink on silk.

Oil on canvas is a classical, solemn medium. It marks the seriousness of the search, like an artistic formalization. The solemnity of the event is enhanced by the very large formats chosen by the artists.

The remarkable provenance and prestigious exhibition of these works is a testament to the attraction they have had since their creation.

Jean-François Hubert