From Lacquer to Light: A French Collector’s Journey Begins with Boi Tran
French collector Melchior Dejouany once called discovering pictorial lacquer “one of the most beautiful revelations” of his life. That revelation began with a painting by Boi Tran, luminous, quiet, and unforgettable, seen at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2012. In her layered technique, he found something deeper: feeling, stillness, soul. Her work opened not just a door into Vietnamese art, but into a story, one that continues across generations, bound by vision, tenderness, and the quiet power of beauty that travels and connects across oceans.
The Melchior Dejouany Collection: The Phoenix Glue and the Broken Silk Thread, Christie's Paris, 8-12 June 2024. Courtesy: thucdoan.com
Is the collector inexhaustible?
No.
Instead, they are individuals touched to the core, who, through hard work and intuition, select the most exquisite works primarily for their personal enjoyment. The interest in a work lies in the quality and complexity of its execution, the emotions it evokes, and the story it tells, whether directly or indirectly.
In November 2012, at Christie’s in Hong Kong, I stumbled upon a lacquer piece by Bội Trân, a Vietnamese artist. This encounter led to a pivotal meeting with Jean-François Hubert, an expert in Vietnamese art who has been advising Christie’s for many years. He promptly introduced me to and deepened my understanding of the pictorial art of this culturally exceptional country.
It was a visual revelation for me, discovering an aesthetic that evoked a profound sense of tranquility and ignited a desire to share this passion.
Women in áo dài, lush landscapes, colonial reminiscences, Confucian discipline, Buddhist sensitivity—these are some of the facets that make Vietnamese art a significant representation of the depth of the soul and the aesthetics of a great people.
A few years later, Christie’s granted me the immense honour of exhibiting a selection from my collection within its splendid Parisian premises. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Christie’s for their trust, and to their enthusiastic teams for their unwavering conviction.
Over the years, I have aimed to assemble a collection of works that witness eighty years of Vietnamese art (1935-2015), spanning lacquer, gouache and ink on silk, pencil, oil on canvas, and sculpture. I am undoubtedly forgetting some.
You will discover through this exhibition my strict selection of works by artists from the first part of the 20th century, some of whom lived in France—where they now rest—for much of their lives, such as Lê Phổ, Mai Trung Thứ, and Vũ Cao Đàm, while others primarily painted in Vietnam, like Nguyễn Gia Trí, Lương Xuân Nhị, and Hoàng Tích Chù. There are also works by painters from a more recent generation who gracefully and subtly extend the extraordinary vitality of Vietnamese painting, such as Bội Trân, Nguyễn Trung, and Trương Bé.
Considering the tumultuous history of Vietnam in the 20th century, what strikes me is the incredible delicacy, mastery, and ode to beauty evident in the produced works. Some of them also bear witness to the various conflicts that Vietnam endured throughout the 20th century.
In our troubled 21st century, they stand as a constant reminder of the essentials, of beauty, and of tradition.
Despite the tormented history of Vietnam in the 20th century, it is the incredible delicacy, technical mastery and ode to the beauty that emerges from these works
Melchior Dejouany.
I must confess: discovering pictorial lacquer has been one of the most beautiful revelations I’ve experienced.
I have a strong appreciation for artistic techniques in general and specifically for the intricate process of lacquer art. This involves the meticulous craftsmanship of artisans from northern Vietnam, who painstakingly apply numerous layers of lacquer, along with materials like mother-of-pearl and eggshell, a diverse array of colours, and a final varnish. The result is a production process that spans several months to years, yielding artworks that showcase vibrant colours in all their glory. I’m also fascinated by the artistic freedom in format and the captivating selection of majestic landscapes and refined, captivating scenes, blending figuration with abstraction.
Nowadays, Vietnam is praised for its impressive economic development, but I hope that this exhibition will shed light on how much its pictorial art, which France has contributed to revealing, occupies a legitimate place in art history.
The connection between France and Vietnam runs deep, spanning generations. Through this art, we can explore this connection intimately, feeling the richness and universality of Vietnamese culture firsthand.
Our connection with Vietnam in France is ancient and profoundly real. It is manifested today through art that can be discovered here and up close. This is how one can feel the richness and universality of a culture.
Melchior Dejouany
Paris, Juin 2024