Painted in 1937, the same year the artist moved to France. Rejecting an arranged marriage in Vietnam and drawn to the vibrant art scene in Paris, the artist requested to study at the l'Exposition universelle de Paris and moved to Paris soon after his friends Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam.

The composition unfolds along the banks of the Perfume River near the iconic Thiên Mụ Pagoda in Huế, a landscape long associated with imperial elegance and refined Vietnamese culture. The tranquil setting imbues the painting with both serenity and quiet romanticism. Created while the artist was teaching in Huế at the Khai-Dinh High School, the portrait is believed to depict a young woman who deeply inspired Mai Thu. Between 1935-1937 the same young woman with a sweet face re-appears in several works. This student from Hue was his model, but he soon fell in love with her. Their plans to marry met with opposition from his family, this thwarted love was perhaps one of the reasons prompting Mai-Thu to leave for France in 1937.

The sitter is portrayed in a luminous white áo dài, traditionally worn when visiting the pagoda—a symbol of purity and respect. The artist renders the dress in radiant whites that shimmer almost like reflections on water, subtly echoing the nearby river landscape. Her right hand lightly touches her conical hat, as if adjusting it to shield her delicate face from the sun’s rays. Her delicate gold necklace and poised posture captures the sophistication of Hue's ideals of femininity at the t.mes . Her confident expression—enhanced by crimson lipstick and carefully defined eyes—suggests both youthful beauty and inner determination. To her right, a boat rests in the distance, suggesting the possibility of departure - perhaps she is waiting to set sail on the Perfume River.

The artist has been prominently featured in recent international exhibitions. Pionniers de l'art moderne Vietnamien en France: Le Pho, Mai Thu, Vu Cao Dam at the Musée Cernuschi in Paris ( Oct 2024 - March 2025) and City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s – 1940s at the National Gallery Singapore ( April – Aug 2025). Museum quality: A dedicated section at the Musée Cernuschi exhibition highlighted Mai Thu’s Hue period, presenting rare portraits of the same model depicted in this work.

This oil-on-canvas painting is exceptionally rare as the artist devoted himself to painting in silk for most of his career. In 2021, an oil on canvas Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong achieved USD 3.1 million at Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong. Only two other female portraits on canvas have appeared at auction since.