MAISON DES BEAUX-ARTS DE L'INDOCHINE, MBAI - Lot 26

Lot n° 26
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Estimation :
8000 - 10000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 180 480EUR
MAISON DES BEAUX-ARTS DE L'INDOCHINE, MBAI - Lot 26
MAISON DES BEAUX-ARTS DE L'INDOCHINE, MBAI circa 1930-1940 Sailing fish among aquatic plants. Six-leaf lacquered wood screen. With the MBAI mark engraved on the reverse of the 6th panel. Dimension per panel: H. 100 x W. 29.8 cm. Provenance: A high-ranking military official of the colonial administration in Indochina from 1937 to 1944; remained in the family ever since. The screen depicts several sailfish, large and small, moving among aquatic plants and rocks, in warm shades of brown and yellow, highlighted by the dark red background and illuminated by the gold of the seaweed, particularly in the foreground, and by touches of mother-of-pearl and eggshell inlays. The panels are connected by hinges, and rest on small feet in their extension. The MBAI mark engraved in a rectangle at the bottom of the right-hand panel refers to the Maison des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine, better known as the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi, founded in 1925 by the French in collaboration with Vietnamese artists. Based on both Western and Eastern traditions, the school offered a 5-year curriculum exploring painting, sculpture and lacquerwork. The result was a unique artistic movement, in which the symbiosis of the two cultures was expressed most spectacularly in the art of lacquer. The MBAI mark attests to the fact that this was a collective work created by the school's students, who had already achieved a high level of expertise. Over the 20 years of the school's existence, successive graduating classes have produced a large number of artists in Vietnam who have acquired an international reputation. In lacquerware, for example, Pham Hâu, Nguyen Giatri and Lê Quôc Lôc graduated in 1934, 1936 and 1942 respectively. We can imagine that some of them were involved in the creation of this screen. This mark, although rare, can be found on a few works offered on the art market. These are mostly single-panel landscapes. For example, at Sotheby's, Paris, June 15, 2023, lot 88, and in Hong Kong, July 8, 2020, lot 1065. Also at Fauve-Paris, October 26, 2019, lot 21. Finally, a folding screen of similar format but also featuring a landscape, at Sotheby's Hong Kong on July 29, 2022, lot 2020. Expert: Cabinet Ansas, Papillon et de Léry. ATTENTION: THIS LOT IS SUBJECT TO A COMPULSORY DEPOSIT WITH THE VERSAILLES SALES ADMINISTRATION. IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE TO BID LIVE ON THIS LOT. Contact: versailles@osenat.com or 01 80 81 90 36. PLEASE NOTE: THIS LOT IS SUBJECT TO A MANDATORY SECURITY DEPOSIT WITH THE VERSAILLES AUCTION AUTHORITY. LIVE BIDDING WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE ON THIS LOT. Contact: versailles@osenat.com or +33 1 80 81 90 36.
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