Le Pho’s self-portrait fetches $1 million at France auction
‘Autoportrait dans la forêt’ (Self-portrait in the forest) by Le Pho has been sold for €883,700 ($1.05 million) by Sotheby’s France.
The painting had been expected to fetch around €200,000 ($238,200) but sold for an « exceptional price, » the auction house said.
« Autoportrait dans la forêt » is a 37×75.7 cm oil painting thought to be done in 1929.
It was exhibited in Hanoi that year, Sotheby’s said.
It was in the collection of illustrator Pierre Le-Tan (1950 – 2019), Pho’s son.
Pho (1907-2001) was a prominent Vietnamese painter who carved out a successful career in France. He has thousands of works to his credit, and was the first Vietnamese artist whose paintings fetched a million dollars in auctions.
His first painting to go for over $1 million was ‘Family Life,’ sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2017.
In October 2020, his silk painting ‘Young Girl With Peonies’ was sold for €1.16 million ($1.36 million) by French auction house Aguttes.
In 2019, his ‘Nue’ (Nude) painting fetched HKD10.9 million ($1.4 million), the highest price ever for a Vietnamese painting, at Christie’s Hong Kong.
By Long Nguyen – VnExpress.net – March 19, 2021