Auctions at the end of 2023 recorded that the price of Vietnamese paintings had been lower even though they were paintings drawn by famous artists from the Indochina College of Fine Arts.
In the 50th anniversary in the Asian market of Sotheby's auction house in Hong Kong (China) in early April 2023, the painting La famille dans le jardin (roughly translated: The family in the garden) by artist Le Pho had the final bid price at more than $2.3 million after taxes and fees. This price at the auction makes many people expect that record auctions would open for Vietnamese paintings in 2023, because this price was also the second record high, only after Portrait of Miss Phuong.
However, although auctions with Vietnamese paintings in the international market still took place regularly in 2023, no Vietnamese painting can set a record again. The close of the ‘Vietnamese Fine Art’ auction at Bonhams on December 19, 2023 showed a relatively quiet year for Vietnamese paintings.
This auction displayed works that are nearly a hundred years old by French artists - teachers at the Indochina College of Fine Arts - the first generation of Vietnamese painting, but the price was too low. The hammer prices were not too exciting, although these works are not only valuable in terms of academic art but also a milestone in the history of domestic painting. Probably, it is not the right time in terms of commercial value.
Before this auction, art auction house Bonhams also chose a breakthrough solution to stimulate demand by choosing a new Vietnamese artist as the next representative of the famous and valuable Indochinese painters whose paintings had high trade. Many domestic collectors had advocated this approach of Bonhams, analyzing that Bonhams's introduction of diversity in names, painting styles and prices would have many opportunities to set new records. However, in fact, there were still no record-breaking prices for paintings by the end of 2023.
At the ‘Modern & Provencal Pantings’ session of auction house Maison R&C in December 2023, against all expectations, the liquidity of two Vietnamese works including the painting Thieu nu ue oai (Languid Young Lady) by Le Pho with ownership certificate issued by Mr. Alain Le Kim, Le Pho's son and Hai thieu nu mac ao dai (Two Young Women in Ao Dai) by Nguyen Khang once again made many collectors hesitate.
The Languid Young Lady sold in the July 2023 session was more than VND21 billion including taxes and fees, but the selling price in the ‘Modern & Provencal Painting’ session was only over VND16 billion including taxes and fees. Many collectors and advisors in art investment believed that this price reflects the reality of the current painting market.
Many investors can accurately identify paintings with precious, rare, and high-value elements; therefore, they try to retain them, but they are unable to pay especially for works of greater value because when they sell the works back to the auction house, the price will definitely be lower than the hammer price. Moreover, fewer collectors will agree to pay the same amount of money. This happens so often that many auction houses have issued written warnings to their customers.
Collector Hoang Anh Tuan shared that the price of Indochina paintings increased because collectors today are still attracted to works or authors whose values are increasing rapidly. The current market shows a slowing down momentum through recent international auctions of Vietnamese paintings.
Although art transactions have gone through a rather quiet year, many market directors of well-known auction houses said that this is a good opportunity for both old and new collectors who started their career in the painting auction market. The slowdown reflects the true value of the works and is a gold opportunity for new collectors to buy the work at a reasonable price.
