Huyen’s Portrait of an Old Vietnamese Gentlemen, lot 304, dated 1952 and painted with charcoal and red chalk on paper, sold for USD 2,800 but it was his second piece that fetched the most money.
    |
 |
|
Portrait of an Old Vietnamese Gentlemen by painter Nguyen Huyen |
Nue De Mademoiselle Hai Duong (Miss Hai Duong’s Nude), lot 301, dated 1937, and painted with ink and gouache on silk laid on paper, was sold for USD 19,100.
This confirms the large range of influence the Vietnamese art market has around the world, especially in Hong Kong (China).
The decision of auctioning off Huyen’s artworks was made by Sotheby’s after many of his paintings were displayed and sold at an exhibition at Vietnamese Chon’s Auction House.
Hoang Ngoc Hung, head of Chon’s Auction House, said the late painter’s Dang Ngoc (Natural Beauty), a rare nude lacquer painting, dating back to 1967, previously displayed at the house’s ninth auction, was sold for USD 45,000, out-pricing other lots at the exhibition.
He added on the last week of April, Chon’s will select half of the painter’s works, kept by eight collectors to go to auction, including The Portrait of Vietnamese Women (painted in 1938, priced at USD 600), The Portrait of Mademoiselle Van (dated 1940, priced initially at USD 700), Seeking a Friend (dated 1944, priced at USD 1,000), The Bo Market (dated 1961, priced at USD 600).
Huyen was born in the Northern province of Bac Ninh in 1915 and died in 1994.
Source: VNA