The auction was held by the Aguttes company at the Drouot auction centre inParis, France, on March 26.
The painting, titled ThonNu Bac Ky (Peasants of Tonkin), is an ink and watercolour work on silk,measuring 65x52.5cm, with the painter’s signature on the upper right and lowerleft and the title on the lower left. It was auctioned at an initial price of35,000 Euros and was expected to be sold for 50,000 Euros at the most. Thepainting is believed to have been made in 1935.
The painter, whose real name is Nguyen Van Tho, was a co-initiator of theIndochine Fine Arts College in Hanoi with Victor Tardieu (1870-1937).
At the same auction, 18 other paintings by Vietnamese artists were sold at highprices.
A lacquer painting, titled Thieu Nu Mo Mong (A Dreamy Young Girl), by Le Pho(1907-2001), 60x91cm, was sold at 100,000 Euros, though it had been expected tobe sold at 30,000 Euros at the most.
Another painting by Le Pho, titled Mau Tu (Maternity), ink and watercolour onsilk, measuring 59.5x48cm, was sold at 300,000 Euros, while his Thieu Nu BenHoa Hong (A Young Girl by a Rose), also ink and watercolour on silk, 41x32.2cm,was sold at 160,000 Euros. Both the paintings had been expected to get a maximum of 200,000 Euros.
Vu Cao Dam’s (1908-2000) painting, titled Chuyen Tro (Conservation), ink andwatercolour on silk, 60x45cm, was sold at 170,000 Euros though it was expectingto fetch 50,000 Euros.
A painting by Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980), titled Khoanh Khac Am Nhac (InstantMusic), ink and watercolour on silk, was sold at 230,000 Euros.-VNA