Return of lost Indochina paintings

I AM TO RETURN

Before Tran Phuc Duyen, famous works by the famous painter Le Thi Luu, valedictorian of the Indochina College of Fine Arts (class 3), were also lucky to have a grand return according to her wishes. Those were 8 silk and oil paintings and 2 copies of works by painter Le Thi Luu, which were given to Mr. and Mrs. Le Tat Luyen by Mr. Ngo The Tan, the husband of painter Le Thi Luu, since May 8, 1994, along with many photo documents, poetry manuscripts, and autographs of the female painter. All of these artifacts were given by Mr. and Mrs. Le Tat Luyen to the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts in the middle of Paris (France), which was very touching. In addition, there were 9 silk and oil paintings (8 works created by painter Le Thi Luu and 1 work created by Mr. Ngo The Tan) belonging to the private collection of Mr. and Mrs. Le Tat Luyen, which were also donated to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts. All works are carefully preserved and brought back to Vietnam by air to ensure safety.

Hồi hương tranh Đông Dương lưu lạc - Ảnh 1.

Hồi hương tranh Đông Dương lưu lạc - Ảnh 2.

Hồi hương tranh Đông Dương lưu lạc - Ảnh 3. — The precious works *Cho em con cat, Thuong yeu* and *Nhi kieu* by artist Le Thi Luu donated to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts brought back from Paris, France

Another fate to bring the famous painter Tran Phuc Duyen back to his homeland, as collector Pham Le Collection said: "During the time living abroad, we always remembered our homeland and loved Vietnamese art, so we started collecting Vietnamese art since 2015 - 2016. Because we had no children, only two grandchildren living in France, when Mr. Duyen passed away, his works were forgotten in the warehouse. People had to put them on exhibition to sell because this was part of the responsibility of the lawyers here, they had to find out who the heirs were and find a way to sell and divide the property".

Collector Pham Le Collection revealed: "When we met them, we asked to buy these works because they were precious paintings of Vietnam. They told us that most of them had been sold. However, three weeks later, they called back and said that the buyer had brought them back to hang, but the size was too big for their house in Switzerland, so they did not buy them anymore. Among them was a very special painting by Mr. Duyen, which is Hoa An - expressing the wish for peace for Vietnam, depicting three girls representing the three regions of North - Central - South. Finding such a complete heritage from the early period and throughout the creative process of an artist in the early stage of Vietnamese fine arts is extremely rare and priceless."

Recently, thanks to the methods and enthusiasm of repatriating lost Vietnamese paintings, many precious paintings by the famous painter Le Thi Luu, along with the "million dollar" works of the "Four Indochina Masters": Le Thi Luu - Le Pho - Mai Trung Thu - Vu Cao Dam, had a reunion at the exhibition "Old Souls, Strange Wharf" in Ho Chi Minh City.

Hồi hương tranh Đông Dương lưu lạc - Ảnh 4. — *Harvest and...*

GOOD SIGNAL

Collector Pham Le Collection added: "After buying the first three paintings of Mr. Duyen, they revealed that there were more than 100 other lacquer paintings with full papers and books. We were really touched because the opportunity to access Indochina fine arts is very difficult, because most of the paintings of these artists are expensive (like the quartet Le Pho - Mai Trung Thu - Le Thi Luu - Vu Cao Dam), or because of the war, their paintings and papers were scattered. We decided to ask permission to meet the family directly to buy them right away, because we realized that when they decided to sell, they did not understand and divided two lacquer paintings into one work. One was auctioned, the other remained. It was very painful. We had to find a way to keep them and bring them back to the country for future generations."

Collector Ly Doi said: "The repatriation of paintings and art works is not something that only happens in Vietnam but has happened in almost all countries, more broadly, ancient civilizations such as Maya, Mesopotamia - Egypt, Angkor Wat, tribes in Africa, Australia..., proving that the time has come when the natives have enough potential and interest. The repatriation of paintings also shows part of the priority at this time. In the past few years and about 10 years to come, this repatriation will be even stronger and is truly a good sign."

Hồi hương tranh Đông Dương lưu lạc - Ảnh 5. — *... Affectionately,* two of many paintings by the late painter Tran Phuc Duyen returning to his homeland

These repatriations show that public museums also need to upgrade, add funding and mechanisms for this. Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum had made a repatriation of the works of famous painter Le Thi Luu, which means it can be done, if there is enough determination and vision.

Therefore, in order to no longer be a matter of individuals buying and bringing back to Vietnam, the repatriation of cultural heritages needs the attention of management agencies. The decision of Mr. Nguyen The Hong, a private collector in Bac Ninh , to spend 6.1 million euros (more than 153 billion VND) to buy the Emperor's golden seal of Minh Mang from a French auction house is also a "push" for cultural heritage management agencies to think about socialization to help Vietnamese heritage not "bleed" in foreign lands.

"Recently, the government has allowed the private sector to register national treasures. Perhaps the repatriation of Vietnamese paintings also needs more policies, mechanisms and funding from the government, to be more effective and practical for life. Who knows, on that journey, there will be more treasures for the country, when the majority of beautiful paintings abroad are returned after a long time traveling," Mr. Ly Doi emphasized.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoi-huong-tranh-dong-duong-luu-lac-18523080821074219.htm