The oil painting "Property of a Lady of Title" by Vũ Cao Đàm. — Photo courtesy of Sloane Street Auctions

LONDON — An oil painting by Vũ Cao Đàm, one of the most influential artists in Việt Nam in the 20th century, will go under the hammer at London's Sloane Street Auctions on May 2.

The oil painting, titled "Property of a Lady of Title," will be the first Vietnamese artwork to be auctioned at this distinguished auction house. It was on display at a solo exhibition of Đàm in London in 1960, hosted by the prominent Frost & Reed Gallery. 

Born in 1908 in Hà Nội to a well-off family, the fifth of fourteen children, the artist was influenced by French culture from a very young age, as his father, Vũ Đình Thi (1864- 1930), was a scholar and had an in-depth knowledge of French culture. 

A graduate of the Hanoi College of Fine Arts, Đàm was taught by French painters Victor Tardieu and Joseph Inguimberty. In 1931, he travelled to Paris on a scholarship to further his studies at the Ecole de Louvre. In 1949, he relocated with his family to southern France, where the local environment as well as the influence of his neighbour Chagall, who lived just a kilometre away, is evident in his later paintings, such as the present one.

Daniel Hunt, Sloane Street Auctions Founder and CEO, said Vietnamese art is gaining global recognition, having grown steadily for 20 years or more. Artists from the Indochina period, such as Vũ Cao Đàm, are especially highly regarded as their works grow in popularity and value. 

The London-based Sloane Street Auctions specialises in auctioning old master drawings and paintings, European furniture and works of art, impressionist art, modern and contemporary art, and photography. 

Not only showing interest in Vietnamese art, Sloane Street Auctions also joins efforts to help unfortunate children in Việt Nam through supporting Facing the World, a UK-registered charity which has operated in Việt Nam since 2007 to provide medical treatment for children born with craniofacial defects. — VNA/VNS