Painting "Picking Roses" by Le Pho
Over the past six months, Nguyen Minh attended six auctions and bought dozens of valuable pieces of art created by Vietnamese artists such as Nguyen Tuong Lan, Vu Cao Dam, Le Pho and Le Thi Luu and restored to Hanoi.
The effort was fueled by Minh’s desire to become a collector and exhibitor of pieces by Vietnamese artists who were the first graduates of Indochina Fine Arts College.
In early October, at a Sotheby’s Auction House in Hong Kong, Minh bought six Vietnamese paintings, including three created by Artist Le Pho, two by Vu Cao Dam and one by Le Thi Luu. However, he was outbidded on several pieces.
Late last May, at Christes’s Auction House in Hong Kong, Minh successfully auctioned one painting by Vu Cao Dam entitled Maternité and one other by Nguyen Tuong Nam, named Landscape with fishing boats. The initial price for the valuable silk picture by Nguyen Tuong Lan, made in 1934 was USD25,600- 32,100. Minh said this auction was the most intense he had seen.
“My dream to open a small exhibition gallery for artists of the “golden generation" of the Indochina Fines Arts Colleges in the near future. For some reason, these artists had to work and live abroad. However, their works retain the Vietnamese spirit. That's the reason I am dedicated to returning them home,” Minh said.
