HONG KONG.- Golden Sunset over Halong Bay by Pham Hau sold to an Asian private collector for HK$9,732,500/ approx. US$1,250,000, a new world record price for the artist at auction, in Bonhams Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale in Hong Kong today, 27 November. A significant work of art cherished by the last Emperor of Vietnam Bao Dai, it has never been seen in public since it was created and granted by the emperor as a personal gift. It had an estimate of HK$2,800,000–3,800,000.

Golden Sunset over Halong Bay is a six-panelled lacquer screen depicting the sublime landscape of Halong Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Northeast Vietnam. This marks the very first time a documented painting from the Emperor’s personal collection was offered at auction.

Bernadette Rankine, Bonhams Southeast Asia Director, commented: “This exquisite lacquer screen by Pham Hau is a significant discovery, not only for its royal provenance but also for its unique composition, supreme workmanship and rarity. It is a true masterpiece, and we are particularly proud that it has set a new world record for a work by Pham Hau.”

In 1951, Pulitzer Prize-winning American Journalist Edgar Ansel Mowrer (1892-1977), who was best known for his writing on international events, paid his visit to Vietnam. His trip culminated in an appointment with Bao Dai in Da Lat. It was at this special occasion that the current painting was granted as a gift to Mowrer. It is known that Bao Dai had ordered paintings and screens from the artist, both for his personal collection and as official gifts to statesmen and politicians. Mowrer brought the six-panel painting back to his family home in New Hampshire, where it was hung and admired for decades before passing down by descent to the present owner.

Celebrated as one of the finest Vietnamese lacquer masters, Pham Hau was a pioneer, contributing to the birth of Vietnamese lacquer art, which has grown to become a principal fine art medium in the country. In creating Golden Sunset Over Halong Bay at the peak of his career, Pham displays utmost technical virtuosity. The screen bears all the hallmarks of a Pham Hau masterpiece: original perspectives, poetic compositions, intricate details, and excellent lacquer techniques. They allow viewers to submerge into the painting, breathing in the panoramic view of the extraordinary sunset from the top of a mountain in Halong Bay. The seascape is expansive without a real focal point. Instead, like in most Pham Hau paintings, we explore the beauty of nature in layers.

According to Pham Hau’s family, he only executed very few works of Halong Bay. This is the second one known to date, but it is on a far superior scale and of much better quality than the first, rendered in such mesmerising splendour as gold and red – the official colours of the royal family and the court.

The 35-lot sale was 96% sold by value. Other notable results include:

• Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980), Lady Playing a Nguyet Cam. Sold for HK$7,812,500, over six times the estimate. Estimate: HK$1,200,000-2,200,000.

• Le Pho (1907-2001), Les Bleuets. Sold for HK$940,000, over four times the estimate. Estimate: HK$200,000-400,000.