Bui Xuan Phai

(Vietnamese, 1920-1988)

Scène de village et arbre

Footnotes

Provenance
Bui Xuan Phai studio
Collection of Mr Constantine Michalopoulos, acquired directly from the above between 1986-1987
Thence in the family by descent
Private collection, Europe


Mr. Constantine Michalopoulos worked for the Société Générale de Surveillance and was one of the few foreigners posted to Hanoi from 1986 to 1987. He knew Bui Xuan Phai's son, Thanh Phuong, and acquired this collection from the artist's close family circle. This collection was cherished by the Michalopoulos family for over 30 years.


Born in 1920 in Van Canh, Hoai Duc, Hanoi, Bui Xuan Phai studied in the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine between 1941 to 1945 under the direction of Tô Ngoc Van in Viêt Bache.

Nowadays, Bui Xuan Phai is recognised as one of the foremost masters of Vietnamese modern art, admired for the artistic expression of his paintings, despite enduring numerous hardships and deprivations throughout his lifetime. Even though he was banned from exhibiting his works for a large part of his life, this did not prevent him from creating magnificent artworks. Through his paintings, Bui Xuan Phai conveyed the deepest emotions of the Vietnamese people during the war and the Subsidy period.

Bui Xuan Phai was awarded posthumously in 1996 the prestigious Ho Chi Minh Award for his contribution to Vietnamese art and culture.