Washerwoman Under The Banana Trees - Circa 1930 - Nguyen Mai Thu - Oil On Canvas - Vietnam - Hanoi

"The washerwoman under the banana trees" Nguyen (?) Mai Thu - Vietnam - Indochina Oil on canvas signed, 85 x 65.5 cm It seems that the name of the Vietnamese artist in question, Nguyễn Mai Thu, is surrounded by some controversy and mystery regarding his identity. Initially, his works were attributed to Mai Trung Thu, a renowned Vietnamese artist, in his youthful output before he left for France in 1943. However, this attribution was disputed by Mai Trung Thu's family. As a result, these works have been reattributed to a certain Nguyen Mai Thu, although this attribution is questionable, even fanciful. It is important to note that no one appears to have reliable biographical information about Nguyen Mai Thu, and his signature on his canvases never included the name Nguyen or the initial N. The name Nguyen Mai Thu first appeared once on sale in 2017, and since then it has been used to identify new paintings bearing this signature, although this raises questions. The style of his paintings is described as very European, which suggests that he was probably trained through contact with French teachers, perhaps at the Hanoi School of Fine Arts, given the location of his landscapes. His artistic production, which consists mainly of oils on canvas, is mainly located in Tonkin and is sometimes dated between 1933 and 1950. In summary, Nguyễn Mai Thu is an artist whose identity and attribution of his works remain surrounded of mystery and debate among art experts. His contribution to Vietnamese art continues to be a topic of discussion among scholars and collectors.