The Damas Collection, or the joy of being yourself

Philippe Damas’s 51 paintings, collected over more than 25 years, were created over almost a century by 32 artists (15 Vietnamese and 17 French), including 3 women.

They illustrate a rare subtlety in the themes found in Vietnamese painting. It is built on an East-West mirror effect, but also on a profound questioning of national identity. It includes works painted in Vietnam by French artists, as well as works by Vietnamese artists in France.

The Philippe Damas’s collection illustrates magnificently and exhaustively the four dynamics instilled by the artists and use as a historical structure.

The choice of alterity and a ability to share form the basis of the first two dynamics.

Attachment to one’s native land and the choice of one’s homeland support the other two.

The choice of the other and the elsewhere and the ability to admire and share

The choice of a faraway place to question has nourished traveling painters, remarkably represented in the collection, from Gaston Roullet, who was present in Vietnam as early as 1885, to Georges Barrière, who died in Đồ Sơn in 1944.

Captivated by Asia, some, like the formidable Alix Aymé, whose collection features an exceptional group of 5 works, turned their trip into a long stay: they taught and shared their techniques. Like Victor Tardieu, founder of the Beaux-Arts in Hanoi in 1924 and unconditional promoter of Vietnamese painting until his death in Hanoi in 1937. He is present here with three works: an exquisite “pochade”, a magnificent portrait and a large canvas which he reproduced in the great painting in the amphitheater of the Indochinese University..

Joseph Inguimberty, with 6 works at the height of his talent, shows that you can be the most beneficial teacher at Hanoi’s École des Beaux-Arts as well as a magnificent artist who praises people and rice paddies. Évariste Jonchère is represented by a work painted in Laos. Did he ever imagine that 4 years later he would become Director-Teacher of the Hanoi School of Fine Arts?

Alterity is above all a culture shock, dignified but shattering. It intertwines individual destinies and historical movements. It forces artists to make often difficult choices.

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Confronting two competing notions: my land is my homeland or earth is my homeland

An artist could be begging for his soul by moving closer to the political arena. And Vietnamese artists will choose two paths.

The first group will assert that their land is homeland, and seek almost exclusively the depths of the Vietnamese soul there.

The humble majesty of Nguyen Phan Chanh (1931), the militant nobility then disillusionment of Nguyen Gia Tri (1934 and 1960), the devotion of Luu Van Sin (1935), the dazzling energy of Tran Van Ha (1937), the grace of To Ngoc Van (1941) are all masterpieces in the collection that define their era.

Thang Tran Phenh (1930), Do Duc Thuan (1933), and Tran Phuc Duyen (1944) also belonged to this rigid, sometimes faltering world. Yes, “Ma terre est la Patrie” (“My country is homelandmy”) was confirmed by Nguyen Do Cung (1947), followed by the more demonstrative Nguyen Sang and Nguyen Tien Chung (both 1957), while Bui Xuan Phai remained steadfast in his distinctive approach (1964 and 1984).

Another group will feel, artistically, that the Earth is their homeland and that Paris is the place where an artist must express himself.

Mai Thu, in his last painting in Hué in 1937, testifies to the effort required to leave one’s native land. Vu Cao Dam, the first who left (in 1931) of the “Three Friends” is present with 4 subtle works painted between 1939 and 1953, a joyful silk by Le Pho (1940) testifies to his fulfillment certain he made  the right choice.

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In all these artists, as in Philippe Damas, there is the happiness of being oneself.

More than just at home….

Jean-François Hubert