Oil painting entitled Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong (Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong) by painter Mai Trung Thu
The masterpiece dating back to the year of 1930 and measuring 135.5 x 80 cm is a rare and exquisite work of Vietnamese Modern art of a collection belonged to an owned group, Les Souvenirs d’Indochine: The Madame Dothi Dumonteil Collection.
It was featured in the iconic 1993 film, "The Scent of Green Papaya" (L'Odeur de la papaye verte) by Vietnamese French director Tran Anh Hung.
The painting was first exhibited at the Fine Arts College of Indochina in 1930 and one of the few pieces selected for the 1931 Exposition Coloniale Internationale in Paris.
Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980) was born in Hai Phong. In 1925, he studied in the Indochina Fine Arts College, together with popular painters namely Nguyen Phan Chanh, Le Van De, Le Pho, Nguyen Cao Luyen.
In 1930, after graduating from the Indochina Fine Arts College, he was appointed as painting teacher at Hue High School for the Gifted. In the 1930s, Mai Trung Thu attended exhibitions in many countries around the world such as Italy ,Belgium , USA and France where he settled later in Paris since 1936.
The artist was interested in oil paintings which depicted scenes of Vietnamese rural life and chose silk as the material to execute valuable paintings. His favorite theme was women, children and daily life combining with Vietnam’s cultural identity
His artworks featured light colors displayed in many exhibitions all over the world significantly contributed to build the reputation for Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Arts.
