On April 6, 2023, in Modern Day Auction at Sotheby’s Hongkong, lot 740, Phạm Hậu’s painting ‘Picking rice at Dawn’, 36×57 cm, has an estimated price of 400,000 – 600,000 HKD. Is this a genuine work of Phạm Hậu?
In the book ‘Phạm Hậu Lacquer’ by architect Phạm Gia Yên (son of painter Phạm Hậu), page 57 has a photo of a work called ‘Cấy lúa lúc bình minh’ [Planting rice at dawn’, 36×57 cm, with no date.
After comparing the two photos above, Viet Art View saw that the lacquer painting preparing to be auctioned at Sotheby’s with the printed picture in the book was the same painting.
On July 29, 2022, in the online auction of Sotheby’s, a painting “like this” was also auctioned. Please refer to the link:
https://vietartview.com.vn/pham-hau-hay/…
In the current context of widespread counterfeiting of lacquer paintings; foreign auction houses sometimes make mistakes; some private organizations have just entered the art business… do not have enough background knowledge about fine arts; recognizing the name, assessing the style, the authenticity of the artists, the artworks is still limited, consulting for collections and art lovers still needs great and conscientious experts.
With a starting price of 400,000-600,000 HKD for a genuine lacquer painting by Phạm Hậu, it will definitely be in the sights of some collectors and art dealers.
Depending on the luck of the bidders and the attraction from the happenings on the floor at the time of the auction; but perhaps the price is difficult to be high, less sudden like a few years ago.
In the auction, Lê Phổ’s beautiful silk painting ‘Two ladies’ is estimated at a price of 3,500,000 – 5,500,000 HKD, will also be interested, but the price is also difficult to be unexpectedly high.
Optimism with the market is good. But with slow liquidity, many things are slow… from psychology to cash flow. And we wait until April 6, 2023. Hopefully, there will be a fresh flourish for the beautiful and precious paintings of Vietnam.
Written by Viet Art View
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