The work Coquetterie captures an intimate moment between two young women attentively admiring each other's necklaces. This composition draws inspiration from a classic of Western art history—the 1594 School of Fontainebleau painting Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters. Since 1955, on the advice of art critic J.F. Apesteguy, Mai Thu began reinterpreting the classical themes of Western masters through the lens of Vietnamese artistic aesthetics. The works from this period distinctly reflect the fusion of Eastern and Western styles—he not only borrowed Western classical compositions and subjects but also transformed them with the lyrical lines, delicate tonalities, and restrained emotions inherent in Vietnamese art. Coquetterie stands as an exceptional example of this cross-cultural dialogue.

Mai Thu was a multi-talented artist—a director, photographer, musician, and painter. This sensitivity to diverse artistic forms profoundly influenced his painting. In Coquetterie, he skillfully constructs the scene like a theatrical stage: two Vietnamese maidens, dressed in traditional attire, interact within a space resembling draped curtains. The red canopy above and the blue curtains on the side precisely frame the figures' space. The green and yellow of the women's traditional garments create a subtle balance of warm and cool tones against the orange and green fabrics in the background. The overall composition is meticulously arranged, with the figures' poses reserved yet suggestive, as if captured from a quiet moment in a play. This fully demonstrates the artist's mastery of narrative and visual rhythm.

This subject held enduring appeal for Mai Thu. Records indicate that at least one other silk painting titled "Le Coffret à Bijoux," highly similar in composition to this work, appeared on the auction market in 2021. This suggests that the artist repeatedly explored the same theme through multiple creations.

Coquetterie is one of the fruits of this series of thoughtful explorations. Compared to related works, this piece demonstrates greater complexity in compositional detail and more vividness in color application, making it a rare and outstanding work within this thematic creation.

《調戲》這幅作品描繪了兩位年輕女子專注欣賞彼此項鍊的親密時刻。此構圖靈感源自西方藝術史經典——1594年楓丹白露學派畫作《加布里埃爾·德斯特雷和她的姐妹之一》。自1955年起，在藝評家J.F. Apesteguy的建議下，梅忠恕開始以越南藝術的審美視角，重新詮釋西方大師的經典主題。這一時期的作品鮮明體現了東西方風格的交融——他既援引西方經典構圖與題材，又以越南藝術所特有的抒情線條、細膩色調與內斂情感對其進行轉化。《調戲》正是此類跨文化對話中的卓越代表。

梅忠恕身兼導演、攝影師、音樂家與畫家等多重身分，這份對多元藝術形式的敏感，深刻影響了他的繪畫創作。在《調戲》中，他巧妙地將畫面營造如舞台場景：兩位越南少女身著傳統服飾，在宛如布幕的空間中互動。上方的紅色帷幔與側面的藍色垂簾，精準地框限出人物的活動範圍；女子身著的綠、黃兩色傳統衣裳，與背景中橙、綠兩色布料形成冷暖色調的細緻平衡。整體構圖經過精心安排，人物姿態含蓄而富有暗示性，彷彿擷取自戲劇中的靜謐一幕，充分展現藝術家對畫面敘事與視覺節奏的掌控力。

此題材對梅忠恕而言具有持續的吸引力。據記錄，至少另有一幅題為《首飾盒》（Le Coffret à Bijoux）的絹本作品，構圖與本作高度相似，曾出現於2021年的拍賣市場。這表明藝術家曾透過多次創作，反覆探索同一主題。《調戲》便是這一系列深思熟慮的探索成果之一。與相關作品相比，本作在構圖細節上更顯複雜，色調運用也更為生動鮮明，堪稱此主題創作中的難得佳構。

隨著藝術生涯的發展，梅忠恕的用色逐漸趨向明亮與飽和。創作於1966年的《調戲》，正是這一色彩風格演變的重要里程碑。畫面中，鮮亮的橙黃、清新的藍綠、深邃的靛藍與大膽的正紅相互映襯，形成強烈而愉悅的視覺對比。這種精心配置的色彩計畫，不僅賦予作品活潑動感的視覺效果，也展現出藝術家晚期創作中愈發自信與愉悅的色彩表現力。《調戲》是梅忠恕融合東西方美學、貫通戲劇與繪畫感知、並展現其色彩語言演進的集大成之作。透過對西方經典圖式的再詮釋，藝術家成功將越南的文化情感與美學精神，融入一個跨越時空與地域的藝術對話之中。