An enthralling, and early-period silk work by Vu Cao Dam Femme au cerisier stands as a paragon of the Vietnamese silk paintings genre. Vu Cao Dam's silk works are quantifiably the rarest amongst the trio of the French Vietnamese artists (Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam and Mai Trung Thu). The maestro's earlier career was focused on sculpture-making, while his later career, post early 1940s, on oil painting. Given the diversity of Vu’s practice, encompassing sculpture, oil painting and lithography, the rarity of his early silk pieces is especially relevant. An important work within the broader tradition of Vietnamese silk painting, Femme au cerisier contributes to and contextualizes this stylistic epoch, marked by a sense of delicacy, restraint and charm. Offering a charming glimpse into an intimate scene, Femme au cerisier embodies Vu’s signature style, influenced by Western approaches of composition, Chinese visual qualities, and the ancient t🙈raditioജn of silk painting in Vietnam.

Standing as a tribute to the dignity of the Vietnamese culture Femme au cerisier features a young Vietnamese woman garbed in an elegant white robe under the cherry trees. Even as the lady’s figure dominates the picture plane, her posture remains especially elegant and poise. Her rose-blushed cheeks with gaze cast sideways, away from the viewer, exudes her peaceful and r🤡eserved nature. Her features are rendered with fine, precise strokes—from lifelike wisps of her hair to the delicate outline of her nose and lips. While her countenance exudes an expression that is unperturbed and tranquil, her humble composure exer꧃ts its own subtle power.

The silk painting signifies Vu’s confidence over this challenging medium —a process requiring precise control over the pressures and direction of the paintbrush, and the strategic management of space, perspective and lighting. The artist utilizes a translucent, restrained palette of gentle white gouache, pastel blues, faint greens, and hints of taupe, indicative of the artist’s early period silk works. By first applying a wet wash over the silk’s surface, before using ink pigments to delineate forms and shapes, the artist skillfully creates a lucid translucency. Vu demonstrates a mastery of the ink brush and calligraphy, not only in the details of work but also in the labyrinth of softly applied thin strokes that form the lush greenery of the scene and the graceful, undulating forms and lines that accentuate the form of the maiden. A sensual masterwork, culture Femme au cerisier conveys the gentle elegance of the modern woman through the eye🍸s of a pioneering maestro, ultimately offering the viewer a captivating yet dreamlike encounter with beauty. The appearance of silk paintings by Vu on the market are especially salient given the iꦐmpressive versatility of the artist's practice. Additionally. 9 out of 10 current auction records are in the same silk medium, showing the extreme desirability of these silk works.

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武高談早年的絹本作品《櫻花樹下》是越南絹本畫的珍貴典範。武高談的絹本畫是三位法裔越南藝術家（黎譜、武高談和梅忠恕）之ཧ中最為稀有的。這位大師早期的藝術生涯專注於創作雕塑，而直到後來40 年代則專注於油畫創作。🀅他從藝之初以創作雕塑為主，後來則集中在油畫創作，因此他的絹本作品非常少。武氏一生創作頗豐，包羅雕塑、油畫、石版畫等，因此他的早期絹本傑作尤顯重要。《櫻花樹下》畫面清麗雅致，克制內斂，卻蘊含迷人魅力，體現即其絹本畫藝術的風格特色。

《櫻花𝔉樹下》是向越南文化致意的作品，畫中的年輕女子身穿優雅的藍色奧黛，凝視著盛開的櫻花。即使女子形象佔據了整個畫面，她的姿態特別優雅和沈著。武氏都以細膩精準的筆觸描繪女子的五官，栩栩如生的髮絲到小巧精緻的鼻子，還有那玫瑰紅的臉頰，雙目側視，遠離觀眾。她神色自若，沉穩的姿態卻散發出一種溫和的力量。

此作可見武氏對於運用難以駕馭的絹本畫十分自信。在絹本上作畫需要嚴格控制運筆力度和方向，也需要掌握配置空間、視角、光線等元素的技巧。藝術家採用婉約的白色水粉、粉藍、淡綠，以及隱然可見的灰褐，配色含蓄柔美，反映其早年絹本畫的特徵。他利用墨彩建構不同形狀之前，先在絹面渲染一層水粉，巧妙營造半透明效果。此作充滿精巧細節，少女身姿線條優美，起伏流暢有致，綠草鬱鬱蔥蔥，筆觸輕柔細密，盡展藝術家的筆墨技巧，造詣非凡。《櫻花樹下》瀰漫一片旖旎溫柔，表現這位越南現代藝術先鋒眼中現代女性的優雅風度，為觀者帶來如夢似幻的美麗邂逅。考慮到武高談作品的多面性，他在市場上的早期絹本作品是最被關注的。在♌藝術家🐬全球個人拍賣紀錄當中，前十名當中有九件是屬絹本媒材，可見此時期的作品深受藏家追捧。