More than 170 Vietnamese precious antiques and paintings went under the hammer at Arts du Asian international auction organized by PI Auction House on January 16.

Precious antiques and paintings at the auction. Photo courtesy of PI Auction House

The auction took place simultaneously at Hanoi’s Sofitel Legend Metropole (Hanoi) and Ho Chi Minh City’s LA VELA Saigon Hotel. This was the first time that a Vietnamese auctioneer has brought fine artworks and ancient artifacts to an international standard auction. All of these valuable artifacts clearly reflect the values ​​of Vietnamese cultural identity and the hobby of collecting artifacts in the community, Thanh Nien reported.

Bac Ho cau ca” (Uncle Ho fishing) by Tran Van Can. Photo courtesy of PI Auction House

The organization board said that collecting antiques has long been “underground water” in the Vietnamese cultural flow, contributing to enhancing the residents’ spiritual lives. Having been formed for quite a long time, the market of trading and exchanging antiques has been primitive and not really developed professionally. The auction served as an opportunity for collectors to gain culture-rich artifacts.

“Ha Noi pho” (Hanoi streets) by Nguyen Duc Toan. Photo courtesy of PI Auction House

The paintings at the auction included oil painting on canvas “Khong gian” (Space) by Le Ba Dang, lacquer work “Ha Noi pho” (Hanoi streets) by Nguyen Duc Toan, oil painting on cover “Chan dung” (Portrait) by Bui Xuan Phai, watercolor on paper “Bac Ho cau ca” (Uncle Ho fishing) by Tran Van Can, etc.

In June 2020 PI Auction House collaborated with France’s Drouot Digital to hold its first international art auction, according to VNExpress.

Many Vietnamese paintings have fetched record prices in the last few years.

In December 2020, a painting of a half-naked woman by renowned artist Le Pho was sold for €440,000 (US$532,860) by French auction house Tajan. In October 2020, his silk painting ‘Young Girl With Peonies’ went for €1.16 million ($1.36 million) at French auction house Aguttes.

Pho was the first Vietnamese artist to breach the million-dollar mark. His first painting to do so was “Family Life” sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2017.

Malie Nguyen