[Auction at Aguttes] The auction ‘Asian painters: China & Vietnam’, Jacques Lebas Collection, Friend of Victor Tardieu, founder of Indochina Fine Arts College

Auction on February 18, 2025, in Neuilly-sur-Seine

INDOCHINA FINE ARTS COLLEGE, ‘LANDSCAPE’, CIRCA 1929-1933, OIL ON CANVAS, 75 × 98 CM, ESTIMATE: 70.000-100.000 EUR

A daily complicity, a friendship forged around art

As the Indochina School of Fine Arts celebrates its centenary, Aguttes pays tribute to its founder, Victor Tardieu, with works and objects that belonged to one of his closest friends, Jacques Lebas. The collection also includes two paintings by Victor Tardieu. The publication of archives, on the occasion of the sale of February 18, 2025, enriches our knowledge of the founder of the Indochina School of Fine Arts and of this institution. Victor Tardieu and Jacques Lebas, both teachers and educators, probably met in Hanoi in 1929. These two curious, literate and humanist men forged a strong friendship. Their shared taste for passing on knowledge, particularly to young Vietnamese, would be the cement of this intellectual and intimate friendship. A trusted friend of Victor Tardieu, Jacques Lebas shared the daily life of the founder of the Indochina School of Fine Arts. Knight of the Imperial Order of the Dragon of Annam, Knight of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol, he distinguished himself brilliantly throughout his career.

Victor Tardieu, Jacques Lebas and his wife, on the porch of
their residence at the Albert Sarraut High School, Hanoi, February 1936
©Archives Lebas

As early as 1929, Jacques Lebas was teaching art history at the Indochina School of Fine Arts. Strong ties were forged, as evidenced by the meals shared at Christmas, New Year’s Day and on birthdays. From September 1933, Lebas took up residence at the Albert Sarraut High School, first as general supervisor and then, from March 1, 1934, as censor. Jacques Lebas sought Victor Tardieu’s advice on how to furnish his residence. A fruitful correspondence between the two men led to an exchange: canvases painted by some of Jacques Lebas’s students at the Indochina School of Fine Arts for new supplies and canvases offered by the latter to Victor Tardieu for the start of the university year in September 1933. The decor would later adorn the interior of the Censor’s residence in Hanoi, and later his home in France.

The friendship between the two men transcended borders and, despite the distance, a sincere relationship developed with Tardieu’s wife Caroline and son Jean, both living in France. In 1937, following the sudden death of her husband, Madame Victor Tardieu naturally commissioned Jacques Lebas to organize the inventory and repatriation of the deceased’s possessions and body. This link between the two families was to last for a very long time…

In June 1937, at the request of Victor Tardieu’s widow, Jacques Lebas was appointed to collect
the deceased’s possessions and organize their repatriation to France. A trusted friend of the family,
he is shown here on the right, in front of Victor Tardieu’s grave, hat in hand, in the courtyard
of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, Hanoi, 1937. ©Archives Lebas

10 works and objets d’art never before seen on the art market

In this Jacques Lebas collection are two oils on panel painted by Victor Tardieu (estimate: 3 000/5 000€ each), himself. Four oils on canvas by students at the Indochina School of Fine Arts, circa 1932-1933 (estimate: 60 000/90 000€ ; 60 000/90 000€ ; 80 000/120 000€ ; 70 000/100 000€) and a drawing by Lê Phổ (estimate: 30 000/50 000€) will also be offered at auction, along with a number of objets d’art including an important imperial carpet from the Qing dynasty (estimate: 8 000/12 000€), all of these personal possessions coming from the censor’s residence at the Albert Sarraut High School in Hanoi.

The four oil paintings testify to the importance accorded to outdoor work at the school. Joseph Inguimberty, who taught at the Indochina School of Fine Arts from 1929 to 1945, gave priority to outings in the Indochinese countryside, ideal for working from life. Here, the importance given to light and shades of green is remarkable.

The collection on display today illustrates Jacques Lebas’s deep affection and admiration for young people, particularly his students from the Indochina School of Fine Arts, who created the paintings. Very attached to Vietnam, and speaking Annamese himself, he chose to decorate his residence in Hanoi with their work, then treasured it and brought it back to France. Passed down through the generations, they are now being presented on the art market for the first time.

These works and archival documents shed a more personal light on Victor Tardieu’s personality. This close friendship lasted for almost 10 years, until the death of the founder of the Indochina School of Fine Arts.

Jacques Lebas, portrait of a humanist in a few dates

• Born in 1902 in Paris.
• 1924: Doctorate in History and Geography (thesis on the Cambodian economy) and diploma from the Oriental Language School (Annamite language). Teaches for 3 years in France.
• 1928: Seconded to Indochina, he taught first at the Chasseloup-Laubat High School in Saigon, then at the Albert Sarraut High School, Hanoi, while also being a lecturer at Hanoi University [1928-1929:  Higher School of Pedagogy / 1929-1931: Indochina School of Fine Arts: Professor of Art History, Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:30 a.m. or 7:30 p.m. / 1930-1931: Indochinese School of Advanced Studies].
• In September 1933, he moved to the Albert Sarraut High School.
• 1934-1939: Censor – Albert Sarraut High School.
• End of 1942 to March 9, 1945: Principal of Pavie College, Vientiane (capital of Laos).
• September 1946: return to France and leave of absence

INDOCHINA FINE ARTS COLLEGE, ‘LAKE LANDSCAPE’, CIRCA 1929-1933
OIL ON CANVAS, 66 × 104 CM, ESTIMATE: 60.000-90.000 EUR
JACQUES LEBAS COLLECTION, AUCTION AT AGUTTES ON FEBRUARY 18, 2025 IN NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FRANCE

View of the residence of Jacques Lebas and his wife in Hanoi at the
Albert Sarraut High School in the 1930s. Above the overmantel,
the painting 14 presented. ©Lebas Archives

ATTRIBUTED TO TRẦN QUANG TRÂN (1900-1969), CLASS III INDOCHINA FINE ARTS COLLEGE, ‘LANDSCAPE’, CIRCA 1929-1933
OIL ON CANVAS, 70 × 89 CM, ESTIMATE: 60.000-90.000 EUR
JACQUES LEBAS COLLECTION, AUCTION AT AGUTTES ON FEBRUARY 18, 2025 IN NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FRANCE

View of the residence of Jacques Lebas and his wife in Hanoi at the Albert Sarraut
High School in the 1930s. On the wall opposite, the drawing 18 by Lê Phổ is visible. ©Lebas Archives

LÊ PHỔ (1907-2001), ‘YOUNG WOMAN SITTING’, HÀ NỘI, APRIL 1933
57,5 × 45 CM, ESTIMATE: 30.000-50.000 EUR, JACQUES LEBAS COLLECTION,
AUCTION AT AGUTTES ON FEBRUARY 18, 2025 IN NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FRANCE

VICTOR TARDIEU (1870-1937), ‘THE SEINE NEAR SOURDUN’, 1918, 21,5 × 26,5 CM
ESTIMATE: 3000-5000 EUR, JACQUES LEBAS COLLECTION, AUCTION AT AGUTTES
ON FEBRUARY 18, 2025 IN NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FRANCE

VICTOR TARDIEU (1870-1937), ‘LANDSCAPE’, 21,5 × 27 CM, ESTIMATE: 3000-5000 EUR
JACQUES LEBAS COLLECTION, AUCTION AT AGUTTES ON FEBRUARY 18, 2025 IN NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FRANCE

PAINTERS OF ASIA: CHINA & VIETNAM
Sale [46] Tuesday, February 18, 2025

For more information or to include a lot in our upcoming sales, please contact:
Charlotte Aguttes-Reynier
+33 (1) 41 92 06 49 – reynier@aguttes.com

SOURCE: AGUTTES