Le Pho (1907-2001)

Clivia Encre et couleurs sur soie, signée en bas à gauche
45 x 57 cm - 17 3/4 x 22 1/5 in.

Ink and colors on silk, signed lower left

PROVENANCE
Collection privée, Paris

Son of the Viceroy of Tonkin, Le Pho was born in 1907 at Hadong. Evincing a keen interest in painting and drawing, and a precocious talent for both, he entered the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts d'Indochine, where he was introduced to Western art and techniques such as oil painting. However, the school's teaching in no way impinged upon the cultural identity of its students, and the teachers urged their pupils to maintain an
Asian style and technique. Most of Le Pho's classmates - Le Van De, Mai Trung Thu and
Vu Cao Dam - became famous for their use of tempera on silk.
In 1931, Victor Tardieu, the school's founder and director, impressed by the young man's talent, made him his assistant during the
Colonial Exhibition then held in Paris. After the
Exhibition, Le Pho decided to travel around
Europe, visiting Italy, the Netherlands and
Belgium. His discovery of the Flemish and
Italian Primitives and the great Renaissance masters considerably influenced the development and maturing of his style. He returned for a while to his native country before visiting
Beijing in 1934, when he discovered traditional
Chinese painting. In 1937, he settled permanently in Paris.
With his extraordinary capacity for assimilation, Le Pho developed a highly original synthetic art that underwent significant changes over the course of his career. He gradually moved away from a certain tradition derived from his study of classical Chinese masters and Italian Renaissance painting, and like the major French avant-garde figures he encountered, asserted his kinship with more recent artists.