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Poetry on Silk

Exquisite and fresh to the market, Mai Thu’s Lady Writing a Poem is a large-format, early-period silk painting featuring a young woman daydreaming in the corner of a room as she contemplates the contents of her poem. Seated comfortably on the floor and turning her neck towards the viewer, the figure dominates the picture plane. Her features are delicate and her countenance is unworried. With arched eyebrows, heavy lidded eyes and slightly parted rose bud lips, her expression suggests that she is experiencing a moment of inspiration.

Her elbows rest informally on a red, lacquer table as she takes a pause from composing her poem, gazing calmly into the distance and fondling with her calligraphy brush. She has nestled herself into a secluded nook within an interior and arranged an ideal space for her practice. Translucent and vibrant blue fabrics hover lightly above her, framing the top of the composition, and calligraphy supplies are neatly laid out in front of her, including a yellowed paper laid flat on the table. She has already composed two characters: “Spring Day”.

This alluring image highlights the creative spirit of womankind. Known to display his artistic talents on the historically significant Asian medium of silk, Mai Thu’s masterful paintings recapitulated notions of The Orient: through depictions of the quotidian, from doleful, elegant women, to the intimacies of Vietnamese family life. A meticulous composition painted at a larger size than most the other silk works in his oeuvre, Lady Writing a Poem is truly a magnum opus from the artist’s body of works and such works are exceedingly rare.

Ao Dai - “Phidian, wet-drapery style”

Mai Thu depicts the cascading folds of her ao dai in a style reminiscent of the “Phidian, wet-drapery style” of Ancient Greek sculpture, a term which art historians use to describe cloth that appears to cling to the body in animated folds while simultaneously revealing the contours beneath. In this case, the pleats of the ao dai spiral around the lady’s seated figure, in a manner which is at once conservative and obscuring yet slightly reveals the sinuous curves of her body. The wispy, light and translucent nature of the dress, and the varying shades of off-white and light yellow, makes the young woman appear ethereal and heavenly.
梅忠恕對奧黛上層層衣褶的刻畫，令人聯想起古希臘雕塑的「菲迪亞斯式濕衣法」——這是藝術史學家慣用的詞彙，用來形容衣服緊貼肌膚時，身體曲線在衣褶下若隱若現的手法。此畫中女子身上的奧黛生出一圈圈皺褶，環繞著她的身體，包裹嚴實，看似保守，卻隱約透露出婀娜多姿的胴體。絲綹輕盈的奧黛，搭配牙白、淡黃的陰影，襯托出女子的超塵脫俗
Her elbows rest informally on a red, lacquer table as she takes a pause from composing her poem, gazing calmly into the distance and fondling with her calligraphy brush. 她的詩尚未寫完，斟酌間把手肘隨意擱在紅漆矮几邊上，凝眸遠眺，並出神地把玩著手中的筆桿。
She has nestled herself into a secluded nook within an interior and arranged an ideal space for her practice. Translucent and vibrant blue fabrics hover lightly above her, framing the top of the composition
Calligraphy supplies are neatly laid out in front of her, including a yellowed paper laid flat on the table. She has already composed two characters: “Spring Day”. 面前矮几上的筆硯排列整齊，平鋪著的黃紙上寫著「春日」二字。
Executed at the crux of World War II, Lady Writing a Poem is signed 1943.
此畫落款處紀年1943，當時第二次世界大戰戰事正酣。

絲絹上的詩歌

《作詩的仕女》是梅忠恕早年創作的大幅絹畫，隱跡多年後首度流入市場。畫中的年輕女子正在房間一隅凝神細思，構想心中詩句。她席地安坐，回頭望向觀者，佔據著大部分畫面。女子容顏清秀，臉上神色恬淡無憂。她蛾眉輕揚，眼簾低垂，朱唇微啟，沉吟之際彷彿靈光一閃。她的詩尚未寫完，斟酌間把手肘隨意擱在紅漆矮几邊上，凝眸遠眺，並出神地把玩著手中的筆桿。面前矮几上的筆硯排列整齊，平鋪著的黃紙上寫著「春日」二字。

此畫落款處紀年1943，當時第二次世界大戰戰事正酣。梅忠恕在二戰期間居住於法國馬孔市，他為上流社會人士繪製肖像的同時，接下市內聖皮爾大教堂一間禮拜堂的裝潢委託。梅忠恕喜將越南素材融入自己的藝術創作。遠走他鄉使梅忠恕心繫越南的靜好歲月，其記憶比起眼前的歐洲日常生活來得更加深刻動人。

現實世界中的硝煙在畫中嗅不到一絲一毫，女子渾然不覺窗外事的樣子投射出藝術家放任想像馳騁的心境。此畫平和淡雅，在動盪不安的社會政治氣候中撐起一片容許人們暫時喘息避世的空間，令人想起家的安全感。

這幅曼妙迷人的作品凸顯了女性的創造精神。梅忠恕把亞洲地區古老的絹本運用得出神入化，展示出卓絕的藝術才華。其畫作記錄了東方國度的縮影，他描繪的皆是平凡的人和事，例如憂鬱但仍端莊自持的女性，以及越南族人之間的親密關係。此畫精緻細膩，尺寸比梅忠恕的大部分絹畫更大，在其生平作品中堪稱出類拔萃，世所罕見。

Executed at the crux of World War II, Lady Writing a Poem is signed 1943. Despite the destruction around him, Mai Thu chose to depict a delicate young woman in a paradisiacal state. Innocently describings a spring day, the subject suggests warmer months ahead. The incongruity of the realities of war, not summoned in this work, and the sweet oblivion of the young girl indicates that the artist is harnessing a whimsical, dreamlike state. The unhurried pace of the picture, the luxury of reverie, the softness of the subject’s gaze, and the naive optimism of her poem shows that she is somehow sheltered from the destruction outside the pleasant space she has created for herself. Calm and unobtrusive, the present lot creates reprieve and escape from the disarray of its prevailing socio-political context: it calls to the safety of home.

The figure is stylized, delineated with thin, black lines, and muted tones. The soft colour palette coupled with monochromatic tones presents a dream-like quality to the painting, enunciating a calm atmosphere that allows the audiences to further admire the woman in her delicate moment. Mai Thu depicts the cascading folds of her ao dai in a style reminiscent of the “Phidian, wet-drapery style” of Ancient Greek sculpture, a term which art historians use to describe cloth that appears to cling to the body in animated folds while simultaneously revealing the contours beneath. In this case, the pleats of the ao dai spiral around the lady’s seated figure, in a manner which is at once conservative and obscuring yet slightly reveals the sinuous curves of her body. The wispy, light and translucent nature of the dress, and the varying shades of off-white and light yellow, makes the young woman appear ethereal and heavenly. Strong willed and optimistic, the female spirit provides a sense of solace to an otherwise chaotic world.

During the war, Mai Thu lived in Mâcon, France, and spent his t.mes painting commissioned portraits of people from high society as well as decorating a chapel in the Church of Saint-Pierre. He found delight in incorporating Vietnamese subject matter into his artistic practice. In many regards, Mai Thu’s ethereal silk painting can be viewed as a vessel of his personal sent.mes nts and perhaps representational of the wider ambitions he had for his native land. During a period of economic instability and conflict, Mai Thu sought to depict Vietnamese people as virtuous and pure, capturing a moment when t.mes seemingly stood still. His subject, engrossed in the act of creation while in the throes of war, is imbued with an aura of sophistication and refinement. Far from his motherland, Mai Thu’s memories of halcyon days in Vietnam supersede present day life in Europe.