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Lot Essay
VU CAO DAM PIVOINES, 1957
OR THE MEMORY TO LIVE
Pivoines by Vu Cao Dam is a rare work, created at a crucial moment in the painter's life, which provides us with information about his technique and philosophy.
The rare work of a soothed man and a stimulated artist
Vu Cao Dam painted very few flowers in his oeuvre, preferring to depict human or mythical beings, divinities, and occasionally animals (roosters, horses, etc.)
Within his rarer flower subjects, besides peonies, he also painted chrysanthemums, gladioli, lilies, and poppies.
In July 1952, he moved with his family from Béziers to the town of Vence, which he settled in and loved.
Brilliant artists lived there as well, such as Henri Matisse and his chapel (completed in 1951) to Marc Chagall, his neighbour and friend.
His health improved, as did the health of his son Michel.
The Vietnam War, which had worried him so much, had ended 3 years earlier. Collectors were more numerous. The same year, in 1957, he exhibited at La Chaux de Fonds and Langenthal in Switzerland. Soothed by the environment and his practice, Vu Cao Dam was also stimulated.
His previous years had been fruitful in terms of research into pigments (including the use of Caparol), different materials and even the reflection of the glass covering his gouaches and ink on silk. However, the newfound peace and quiet along with the artistic atmosphere of the place encouraged his creativity. An excellent example of this is his Pivoines, for which Vu Cao Dam used oil. This was the medium he used throughout his contract with the Wally Findlay Gallery from 1963.
A unique technique and approach to the world
Le Pho, his classmate and lifelong friend, always wanted freshly cut flowers, usually of different species, and placed them in a vase, which is an important element in the composition of the still life painting. Different elements can be seen in his works such as the table on which the vase is placed, or the various objects (books, magazines, ceramics, fabrics, etc.) arranged around it.
With Vu Cao Dam however, there were no vases, no objects around, no table or decorations. Just the flowers, such as peonies in this example. The artist placed the flowers one by one in different bottles, so that each one appeared to be alive, unlike the entire bouquet.
We can see and view clearly in this the sensibility of the great sculptor that he was, being dissatisfied with the limits of only painting and always in search of the third dimensionality of sculpture. We can also see and discover in this the affirmation of a philosophy.
A philosophy of rediscovered time
“My father had a great artistic culture. When he was a student, he had a card from the Ecole du Louvre that gave him free access to the Guimet Museum and the Louvre Museum (in private conversation with Michel Vu, son of the the artist, October 2024).
A great reader and visitor with a rare erudition, Vu Cao Dam could not have overlooked the ‘Carnation Flowers’, an ink and colours on silk by Qian Xuan (1235- circa 1300-1305) in the Musée Guimet and the oil on canvas from 1640 by Jan Davidz De Heem (1606-1684) ‘The Dessert’ in the Musée du Louvre. Vu Cao Dam is sensitive to the desire of the former, faithful to the great Chinese tradition, to ‘take part in the very “gestures” of Creation’ (François Cheng), and to the expression of the latter, champion of a European genre combining the fleetingness of life, luxury and (sometimes) exoticism. Vu Cao Dam himself wanted to give his flowers a ‘breath of fresh air’ and considered any setting to be superfluous.
The background is non-uniform, with bright touches of aqua green and light blue at the bottom of the work, fading to ochre-yellow at the top. Green, black and red foliage supports vivid, powerful flowers. Seductresses feigning immortality.
Exalting life and love, making death a memory to be lived.
Time rediscovered, elegantly.
Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Art of Vietnam
OR THE MEMORY TO LIVE
Pivoines by Vu Cao Dam is a rare work, created at a crucial moment in the painter's life, which provides us with information about his technique and philosophy.
The rare work of a soothed man and a stimulated artist
Vu Cao Dam painted very few flowers in his oeuvre, preferring to depict human or mythical beings, divinities, and occasionally animals (roosters, horses, etc.)
Within his rarer flower subjects, besides peonies, he also painted chrysanthemums, gladioli, lilies, and poppies.
In July 1952, he moved with his family from Béziers to the town of Vence, which he settled in and loved.
Brilliant artists lived there as well, such as Henri Matisse and his chapel (completed in 1951) to Marc Chagall, his neighbour and friend.
His health improved, as did the health of his son Michel.
The Vietnam War, which had worried him so much, had ended 3 years earlier. Collectors were more numerous. The same year, in 1957, he exhibited at La Chaux de Fonds and Langenthal in Switzerland. Soothed by the environment and his practice, Vu Cao Dam was also stimulated.
His previous years had been fruitful in terms of research into pigments (including the use of Caparol), different materials and even the reflection of the glass covering his gouaches and ink on silk. However, the newfound peace and quiet along with the artistic atmosphere of the place encouraged his creativity. An excellent example of this is his Pivoines, for which Vu Cao Dam used oil. This was the medium he used throughout his contract with the Wally Findlay Gallery from 1963.
A unique technique and approach to the world
Le Pho, his classmate and lifelong friend, always wanted freshly cut flowers, usually of different species, and placed them in a vase, which is an important element in the composition of the still life painting. Different elements can be seen in his works such as the table on which the vase is placed, or the various objects (books, magazines, ceramics, fabrics, etc.) arranged around it.
With Vu Cao Dam however, there were no vases, no objects around, no table or decorations. Just the flowers, such as peonies in this example. The artist placed the flowers one by one in different bottles, so that each one appeared to be alive, unlike the entire bouquet.
We can see and view clearly in this the sensibility of the great sculptor that he was, being dissatisfied with the limits of only painting and always in search of the third dimensionality of sculpture. We can also see and discover in this the affirmation of a philosophy.
A philosophy of rediscovered time
“My father had a great artistic culture. When he was a student, he had a card from the Ecole du Louvre that gave him free access to the Guimet Museum and the Louvre Museum (in private conversation with Michel Vu, son of the the artist, October 2024).
A great reader and visitor with a rare erudition, Vu Cao Dam could not have overlooked the ‘Carnation Flowers’, an ink and colours on silk by Qian Xuan (1235- circa 1300-1305) in the Musée Guimet and the oil on canvas from 1640 by Jan Davidz De Heem (1606-1684) ‘The Dessert’ in the Musée du Louvre. Vu Cao Dam is sensitive to the desire of the former, faithful to the great Chinese tradition, to ‘take part in the very “gestures” of Creation’ (François Cheng), and to the expression of the latter, champion of a European genre combining the fleetingness of life, luxury and (sometimes) exoticism. Vu Cao Dam himself wanted to give his flowers a ‘breath of fresh air’ and considered any setting to be superfluous.
The background is non-uniform, with bright touches of aqua green and light blue at the bottom of the work, fading to ochre-yellow at the top. Green, black and red foliage supports vivid, powerful flowers. Seductresses feigning immortality.
Exalting life and love, making death a memory to be lived.
Time rediscovered, elegantly.
Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Art of Vietnam