Vu Cao Dam
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"Divinite jaune"
Signed Vu Cao Dam and dated 1970, and on the reverse signed and dated. Canvas 105.5 x 82 cm. A certificate signed by Simone Karoff, Wally F Findlay Galleries, dated 1971 accompanies the work.
Provenance
Wally F Findlay Galleries Inc., Chicago.
Private Collection, Sweden, purchased from the above in June 1971.
More information
Vu Cao Dam was a Vietnamese-French artist whose distinctive style developed at the intersection of East Asian tradition and Western modernism. Born in Hanoi in 1908, he was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine and was one of the students of Victor Tardieu, who, along with Mai Trung Thứ, Lê Phổ, and Lê Thị Lựu, travelled to Paris to pursue a career in 1931. Vu Cao Dam became part of the Parisian art scene for much of the 20th century, although he later moved from Paris to Southern France. During his time in Southern France, he became acquainted with Marc Chagall, who influenced his work. At this point, his work was also influenced by Impressionists such as Matisse and Bonnard.
The painting "Divinité jaune" bears witness to Vu Cao Dam's recurring fascination with spirituality and traditional religious motifs. Here, influences from Buddhist iconography are combined with a lyrical colour palette and a dreamlike expression that is typical of the artist's mature period. The figure in the painting—floating, peaceful, and timeless—recalls both Vietnamese spirit images and Western Madonna depictions. The refined use of colour creates a sense of serene transcendence.
Vu Cao Dam's art is characterised by a harmonious balance between line and colour, between East and West, between the earthly and the spiritual, a very distinctive style that blended both Western and Asian techniques. "Divinité jaune" is a representative example of his ability to translate spiritual themes into a modern pictorial world, and stands as an expression of the artist's own cultural duality.
In the 1960s, Vu Cao Dam began a collaboration with Wally Findlay Galleries, from which the auction piece was purchased by the current owner. During his collaboration with Findlay Galleries, Vu Cao Dam exhibited at several of their galleries, including in New York, Chicago, Palm Beach, and Los Angeles. In summary, Vu Cao Dam's collaboration with Wally Findlay Galleries marks an important period in his career, during which his art gained greater international attention and his style further developed.