LE PHO (french/vietnamese, 1907–2001) "SUR LA TERRASSE" Signed twice...

LE PHO
(french/vietnamese, 1907–2001)
"SUR LA TERRASSE"
Signed twice bottom right (once in Vietnamese), inscribed with title verso, oil on canvas.
Executed in 1964.
32 x 39 1/2 in. (81.3 x 100.3cm)
provenance:
The Artist's Studio.
Wally Findlay Galleries, Chicago, Illinois (acquired directly from the above in 1967).
Private Collection, Chicago, Illinois (acquired directly from the above in 1967).
By family descent.
Private Collection, Michigan.

note:
The present work will be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Findlay Institute.

Best known for his poetic depictions of domestic scenes, elegant women and lusciously painted flora, Le Pho shares with his viewers glimpses from his memories of his upbringing in Hanoi in the early 1900s. These works present a romanticized view of Vietnamese life yet unmarred by the local infighting and political violence soon to come.

The son of the Viceroy of Tonkin in Vietnam, Le Pho was raised in a privileged and cultured environment. He studied painting at the Fine Arts College of Indochina under the close instruction of the founder of the school, Victor Tardieu, one of the only French nationals at the time who encouraged the exploration of the Vietnamese cultural identity in the artwork of his students. A student of Matisse's in Paris, Tardieu imparted to Le Pho the fundamentals of European painting traditions and techniques. These traditions formed the basis of Le Pho's now distinct style of painting, in which he merged a unique ideology with these European influences.

With their distinctive elegance, rich colors, and delicately ethereal ambiance, the present paintings are exceptional examples of the artist's oeuvre and depict the subjects most pleasing to artist- impressionistically rendered flowers and figures that hearken back to his childhood.