Archive, Fine Art, Southeast Asian Art
VICTOR TARDIEU (French, 1870-1937) Le Pont-Neuf à Paris (The New Bridge, Paris) stamped with atelier stamp 'Victor Tardieu' (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 41 x 32.5 cm. (16 1/8 x 12 5/8 in.) Painted between 1905 and 1910 PROVENANCE Collection of Mrs Alix Turolla-Tardieu, granddaughter of the artist This season, Christie’s is privileged to be able to handle the sale of a comprehensive collection of works of the late French artist Victor Tardieu from the collection of the artist’s granddaughter, Alix Tardieu. The following text by Alix Tardieu details a personal account of her experiences growing up surrounded by the legacy of her grandfather and father’s art. THE LEGACY OF VICTOR AND JEAN TARDIEU By Alix Tardieu If I revisit my childhood memories, the image of my grandfather, Victor Tardieu the painter, becomes intimately blurred with that of my father, Jean Tardieu the writer. My grandfather passed away before I was born, but I came to know him through the many weekends that I spent at the home of my grandmother, Caline, where his presence was palpable. During these tranquil weekends, aside from playing the piano with my grandmother, who had been a professional harpist, I would also rummage about in the attic by myself. This was perfumed with the smell of wood, and filled with paintings by my grandfather. I would stand before the different subjects of the canvases, looking at the bows of ships at Liverpool and pretty dresses of ladies in sunny gardens, as well as people of Asian ancestry and bronzed skins wearing clothing in sumptuously warm colours. When I would come down from the attic, my grandmother would invariably talk to me at length about my grandfather’s talent, his success before the Great War, his study trips when they were just newlyweds, and always about the great endeavors to which he had devoted himself from the moment he arrived in Hanoi in 1921: the mural in the auditorium of the its university and at the same time, the creation of a School of Fine Arts where he was going to meet and guide young Vietnamese artists “more gifted than our family”, as he would say. My time during these tranquil weekends were also spent taking long walks in the forest with my parents, and often on readings that my father gave of what he had written in the night as well. Both Victor Tardieu and Jean Tardieu enjoyed success and recognition for their work for a good many years in their lifetime, as a painter and a writer respectively. Today, the public is discovering anew and once again seeking the artworks of my grandfather, while the literary works of my father are Jean have become classics of the French language. I look forward to playing my part in passing on their legacy, as my children will continue to do after me.

Victor Tardieu (France, 1870-1937)
Le Pont-Neuf à Paris (The New Bridge, Paris)
stamped with atelier stamp 'Victor Tardieu' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
41 x 32.5 cm. (16 1/8 x 12 5/8 in.)
Painted between 1905 and 1910

Provenance
Collection of Mrs Alix Turolla-Tardieu, granddaughter of the artist

On the 2nd of February 1921, French artist Victor Tardieu arrived in Hanoi probably with no idea of what lay ahead of him. As a talented painter, recently graduated and already known for some of his work, he received the Indochina Prize from the French government which allowed him free travel to Vietnam, and accommodation with travelling costs included in return for depicting the beauty of the faraway colony in the Far East. Upon his arrival in Hanoi, he was commissioned to paint a large mural for the University of Indochina (depicted on the previous page). To fulfill this order he had to extend his stay over the year planned as to await the end of the university's construction.

Through Tardieu's humanist philosophy, the large fresco for the University of Indochina magnified the French effort in Vietnam, depicting an almost idyllic relationship based on mutual respect. As preparation work for the mural, Tardieu painted numerous characters meant to represent the strength of both civilizations. Tardieu advocated collaboration over confrontation and through evoking the rurality of Vietnam in his works, also conjured the essence of its culture, land and the peasants who incarnate it. First, he drew many charcoal sketches on paper to describe with precision the themes chosen and to imagine them in the final fresco. After which he painted the different themes with oil on canvas matching the final scale. Finally, Tardieu painted the scene on to the foundation of the large fresco in the University.

The present painting, Vietnamienne a l’enfant is one of the oil on canvas preparatory work for the mural, and reflects faithfully the executed version on the mural. As with many of the other figures painted, the Vietnamese mother depicted here is a figure of grace and simplicity, dressed in simple traditional accoutrements. Tardieu aimed to depict the everyday realities of life, and from the studies made, demonstrated that he was a keen observer of his subjects. Having come from the collection of the artist’s granddaughter, this marks the first occasion that Vietnamienne a l’enfant is coming to market and presents the rarest of opportunities for collectors to acquire a piece of Vietnamese history.