Lê Phổ

Lê Phổ (2 August 1907 – 12 December 2001) was a Vietnamese painter.[1] From 1925 until 1930, Le Pho studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Hanoi. At this point, he earned a scholarship to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and he studied there for the next two years under the instruction of Victor Tardieu, a friend and companion of Henri Matisse.[2] Upon returning to Vietnam he taught at the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi.

Lê Phổ
Painter Lê Phổ
Born(1907-08-02)August 2, 1907
Thanh Xuân, Hà Nội
DiedDecember 12, 2001(2001-12-12) (aged 94)
Paris
NationalityVietnamese
EducationÉcole Supérieure des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine, École des Beaux-Arts in Paris
Known forPainting
MovementRomanticism, Impressionism, Surrealism
Spouse(s)Paulette Vaux
ChildrenPierre Le-Tan
Patron(s)Victor Tardieu

In 1937, he gave up his professorship to return to Paris as a part of the International Exposition in Paris as both a delegate and a member of the exposition's jury. In 1938, he had his first one-man show in Paris, a show which marked the beginning of his successful artistic career in Europe. He would go on to show his art across France in Paris, Nice, Lyon, and Rouen, as well as in Morocco, Brussels in Europe, and in New York.

Le Pho's work is often divided into three distinct styles.[3] The first style is from his period in Hanoi, and on to his first couple years in Paris. In works from this period we see depictions of the Vietnamese landscape of Le Pho's youth, paintings steeped with nostalgia and the historical magnificence of the country. Following this style came what is commonly known as Le Pho's Romanet period, named after the French gallery owner who became Le Pho's major promoter. This period would last until the 1960s. In 1963, Le Pho's work was noticed by the American gallerist Wally Findlay, owner of Findlay galleries, who ordered many of his canvases and sold them to the American market, marking the beginning of Le Pho's final artistic period, his Findlay Period.[4] This is perhaps his most recognizable period, where he produced more works in oil on canvas and featured his distinctly depicted Vietnamese women surrounded by lush landscapes. Many people consider the strong shifts in medium, subject, and style between these three periods to be a testament to Le Pho's versatility as an artist.[4]

Art dealer Wally Findlay Jr. (left) and artist Le-Pho (right) at the Wally Findlay Galleries

Though he travelled for his shows, he continued to call Paris his home from 1937 until the time of his death in 2001. He was one of four EBAI graduates who made a career in Paris, including Mai Trung Thứ, Vũ Cao Đàm and female painter Lê Thị Lựu.[5] He painted scenery of Vietnam, still life with flowers, family settings and portraits. Vietnamese women, most often portrayed as elongated figures evoking the influence of surrealism, are a recurrent theme in his work.[6]

References
  1. "Vĩnh biệt Lê Phổ: Danh họa Việt Nam trên đất Pháp". Đại đoàn kết cuối tuần số 279, số ra ngày 30.12.2001.
  2. "Le Pho - Findlay Galleries". Findlay Galleries. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  3. "Le Pho (1907-2001), VIEW FROM THE HILLTOP". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  4. "LE PHO (Vietnamese, 1907-2001), Mother and Child with Two Ladies in the Garden)". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  5. Arts of Asia: Volume 39 "Mai Thu... Le Pho's other close friend, Vu Cao Dam, had already decided to live in France, and when the three men were later joined by their fellow Ecole des Beaux-Arts the woman artist Le Thi Luu (Class III, 1927 1932), these four..."
  6. Before 1945 6 June 2012 "The earliest Vietnamese artist to achieve recognition for his work in the ... school during the late colonial period included Lê Phổ (1907-2001)"
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