Bearing an elegant purity and alluring sensuality, Mai Trung Thu’s Still life of lilies (Lot 1019) represents the epit.mes of modern Vietnamese silk painting mastered by an artist who dedicated most of his career to the very medium and art form.

Born into Vietnamese high society, Mai Trung Thu was the son of mandarin Mai Trung Cat, governor of Bac Ninh region. He graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts d’Indochine in Hanoi in 1930 and soon earned a teaching position in Hue. In 1937 he travelled to France to attend the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris and thereafter resided in France for the rest of his life. Mai Trung Thu, unlikely Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam who also chose to establish themselves in Europe, remained faithful to silk painting and explored other art forms such as music as well as cinema.

Mai Trung Thu’s still life paintings are among the artist’s most admired compositions, melding the influence of the Western traditions such as Dutch Old Master still life painting, with oriental elements and flair. In the artist’s recent retrospective Écho d’un Vietnam rêvé at the Musée des Ursulines, Mâcon, France, 2021, the curator Anne Fort dedicated a section of the exhibition to this very genre within Mai Trung Thu’s oeuvre.

In Chinese, jing wu or ‘quiet objects’ may be symbolic evocations of blessings, commemorations of events, or even auspicious wordplays. Similarly in Vietnam, still-life imagery appears on woodblock prints decorating the house. Flowers and fruits often hold specific meanings, which accord the picture both aesthetic and literary merit. The present work features a bouquet of lilies, often associated with purity, rebirth and innocence. While in the Western Christianity, Madonna lily or Lilium candidum has been associated with the Virgin Mary, in Chinese tradition “bai he” represents both unity of spirits and 100 years of love and are often customary gifts for weddings or even close friends.

The large blossoms perch from an elegant bronze-like vase, balancing from its small narrow neck. A small calligraphy dish, and pink brush is depicted at the foreground. The large white petals are graceful, yet magnificent, their orange and green st.mes n stalks arch gracefully towards the viewer. The jade-like color of the leaves contrast against the white blossoms and light, translucent washes applied in the background. The present lot is offered with the artist's original frame, especially designed by Mai Trung Thu with its unique gilded oriental style that references traditional craft or wooden antiques. The delicately painted and incised floral motifs, as well as the frame’s gold and green tinge, compliment the painting and subject perfectly. The gentle poetics of this subtle yet striking work personifies the Vietnamese painter's technical prowess on the delicate medium of silk.

越南藝術大師枚中栨用大半生鑽研絹本畫，這幅純潔唯美的《百合靜物》（拍品編號1019）氣氛優雅綿遠，堪稱越南絹本畫的典範之作。

枚中栨出生於越南的上流社會，父親Mai Trung Cat是越南北寧省的總督。他在1930年畢業於河內中南半島美術學院，很快在順化獲得了一份教職。1937年，他前往法國參加巴黎的國際藝術博覽，更從此定居法國。雖然他與黎譜和武高談等越南藝術家都選擇在歐洲發展，但仍堅持創作絹本畫，此外亦探索過音樂和電影等其他藝術媒介。

枚中栨的靜物畫不僅具備東方藝術元素和風格，亦明顯可見荷蘭古典靜物油畫等西方藝術傳統的影響，因此備受藏家和觀眾喜愛。法國馬孔市的烏爾蘇林博物館曾在2021年為枚中栨舉辦回顧展「夢迴越南」（Écho d’un Vietnam rêvé），策展人安妮．霍特（Anne Fort）更特意為枚中栨的靜物畫特設專題展區。

在越南，靜物圖案通常出現在裝飾房屋的木刻版畫裡。畫中的鮮花和水果通常具有特定含義，既為美觀，亦具文學價值。本作中的百合花潔白如雪，象徵純潔、重生與純真。在基督教藝術中，聖母百合花象徵聖母馬利亞；而在中國傳統中，百合有百年好合之意，是傳統十項婚嫁禮品之一。

碩大的花朵插在貌似銅製的花瓶中，瓶身線條優雅，旁邊擺放著細小的筆洗和粉紅色筆刷。大片的白色花瓣既壯麗又綽約多姿，花朵中心橙配綠的花蕊溫柔地向著觀眾的方向微微伸展彎曲。翠玉般的葉子與白色花瓣及輕盈透亮的背景形成強烈對比。本作裝裱在原畫框內，畫框經藝術家悉心設計，參考了傳統手工品或木製古玩，用上獨特的東方鎏金風格打造。細心繪畫的花朵圖案以及畫框的金色和綠色調，與本作的主題和色調相得益彰。這幅絹本靜物畫蘊藉含蓄美態，詩意幽婉悠長，令人一見難忘；枚氏淬煉多年、爐火純青的畫藝亦在這片柔順的絲絹上表露無遺。