Hanoi School - Circa 1930 - Mai Thu - Animated Landscape - Oil On Canvas - Vietnam

"Animated Landscape - Mai Thu - Oil On Canvas - Signed THU- Vietnam - Indochina

This painter remains a mystery. His works initially attributed to Mai Trung Thu in his youth production before his departure for France in 1943, being challenged by the latter's family, were reassigned to a certain Nguyen Mai Thu. This new attribution seems very questionable, if not fanciful because no one knows the slightest biographical element of this character and the signature of his paintings has never included the surname Nguyen or the initial N. This name of Nguyen Mai Thu appeared for the first time on sale in 2017 and is taken over for ease henceforth with each appearance of a new painting bearing this signature. Be that as it may, the very European style of these paintings suggests that he was formed in contact with French teachers, probably within the School of Fine Arts of Hanoi, given the location of its landscapes. His production, concerning only oils on canvas, is mostly located in Tonkin and sometimes dated between 1933 and 1950.
His production, involving only oils on canvas, is mostly located in Tonkin and sometimes dated between 1933 and 1950. We already knew three signatures of this artist: M.Thu, mai thu and Méi Qiū.
In 2022 two small paintings appeared on sale, this time signed “THU”. including this one showing great similarities with those of M.Thu. Similarities - theme (country scenes with a few Tonkinese farmers more present to liven up the painting than to be the center of interest). - tones to represent dirt roads, vegetation, distant mountains, bodies of water and skies, - an atmosphere expressing only the tranquility of an always peaceful nature. - stylish with very fluid painting on the skies and bodies of water, and sometimes very marked impasto on the floors and vegetation. A particularity of these two canvases is that they were made on an old pictorial layer whose silhouette is still very apparent on the back and have very numerous cracks which correspond, according to the restorer to whom they were entrusted, to a poor appreciation of dilutions. For these reasons we are on the one hand convinced that it is the same artist, and on the other hand we think that these two paintings were produced at the beginning of his career at a period when he had not yet fully mastered the oil technique. To be continued...