Mai Thu, 1935, « The return of the harvest », or no one can be deprived of nostalgia

On October 21, 1930, having just graduated (on June 19) from the Hanoi School of Fine Arts, in the first class, Mai Thu was appointed (trainee…) drawing teacher at the quốc học college (which became the Lycée Khai Dinh in 1936) in Hué. He was there for 7 years.

His teaching duties did not hinder his career as a painter: by 1935, he had already taken part, in turn, in the Exposition Coloniale Internationale in Paris (1931), the Exposition Internationale d’Art Colonial in Tripoli (1931), AGINDO (Agence Economique de l’Indochine since 1932) events in Paris, and the Exposition d’Art Colonial in Naples (1932).

The date of the work is of particular importance: 1935… Was it in this year that Mai Thu fell madly in love with one of his students, Phuong, and suggested here a portrait of her?

No face, but a weightless posture. Other, later, presumed portraits of Phuong reveal a very beautiful young girl, her eyes often downcast, two small locks framing her face and her hair presumably pulled up into a bun.

Here, the artist captures graceful, delicate hands, all imbued with the elegance of Hué. One clutches the basket of freshly picked fruit that marks her wiggle, while the other, all sensual coquetry, clutches her conical hat as if to better conceal her face. A diaphanous atmosphere.

But is it really Phuong, or simply a passer-by she’s met on the banks of the Perfume River, who, unaware of this handsome young man from Tonkin, is merely seeking protection from the sun while the wicker of the heavy basket tugs at her hand and bumps against her hip?

We’ll never know. What Mai Thu does know is that no one can be deprived of his nostalgia.

Jean-François Hubert