Adam's FINE ASIAN ART Part I 28th & Part II 29th June 2022

Provenance: - René et Raymonde Altobianchi, antique dealers active in the 1960s-1980s in l’Escarène, near Nice, French Riviera, where Lê Ph ổ settled after the French army, in which he enrolled in Carcassonne, was defeated by German. Their shop was named ‘César de Peluet’ after the first name of the father of Raymonde. Probably acquired in the 1970s from a local Estate. René Altobianchi was also an ornamental sculptor and was awarded the Medal of the French Nation- al Order of Merit for his volunteer role as a technical director of judo, which he practiced along with Yves Klein, a world-renowned artist of the School of Nice prized, notably, for his famous ‘Leap into the void’ and his ‘IKB blue’. NOTICE TO BIDDERS: This lot has been authenticated by the Wally Findlay Institute, USA. According to them, it will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the artist. The buyer will bear the cost of this certificate. Please e-mail the department for further details: yuchen@adams.ie. This lot is stored at CADOGAN TATE PARIS. Please contact CADOGAN TATE at Parc des Docks, Bâtiment 553B, 50 rue Ardouin, St Ouen, 93400 Paris, France, +33 1 48 20 85 60. Notes: One of the leading figures of modern Vietnamese art, Lê Phổ was born in 1907 in Hà Tây province into a respected Mandarin family, his father being the last viceroy of Tonkin. Showing a predisposition for painting and drawing, he entered the first class of the Indochina School of Fine Arts in 1925. He was soon noticed by the director and found- er of the school, Victor Tardieu, for whom he retained a strong attachment throughout his life. In 1931, he came to France to present his works on the occasion of the International Colonial Exhibition. He chose to stay in Paris for a year to attend classes at the École des Beaux-Arts, then undertook several trips to Europe. He returned to Vietnam in 1933 and taught at the Indochina School of Fine Arts in Hanoi. He decided to settle permanently in France in 1937 and quickly became very well known. Why would Lê Ph ổ have depicted a dove? The dove represents purity, gentleness, devotion, beauty and faith but also hope and peace, and that has resonated well across the vast majority of religions and cultures. It may be possible to draw a link between the dove and the Vietnam war, during which the term ‘Dove’ was describing a person who opposed the war, as opposed to ‘Hawk’. In East Asia, the dove is associated with long life and fidelity as doves pair for life. It is also noted that Lê Ph ổ has depicted young women with birds such as in a painting sold in DROUOT Paris, France, by Fraysse & Associés, 2007-03-21 under lot number 56. Additionally, following the East Asian pictorial tradition, he has depicted birds and flowers, as seen in a painting sold by SOTHEBY’S Singapore, 2011-04-01, under lot number 70. Compare with a related ink and colors on silk by Lê Ph ổ entitled ‘Three doves’ from the collection of Madame Dor- othy Fera Tajasque, wife of Georges Tajasque who served as Chef du Cabinet to Marie Antoine Pasquier, Governor General of French Indochina from 1928 to 1934. This work has been sold at public auction at BONHAM’S Hong Kong, China, 2017-11-27, under lot number 250. € 30,000 - 50,000 306 LÊ PHỔ (VIETNAM & FRANCE, 1907-2001) ECOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE L’INDOCHINE (INDOCHINA FINE ARTS COLLEGE), 1ST CLASS (1925-1930) La colombe (The Dove) Ink and colors on silk Signed to the lower right Framed with a glass 28 x 33 cm (as seen in the frame) +