Victor Tardieu (France, 1870-1937) executing his work in his workshop in Hanoi, circa 1923-1924.

It took Tardieu several years to complete the 160m2 commissioned work requiring long and intricate research during which he undertook to create the most ideal and harmonious composition. In the forefront of his ensemble, Tardieu chose to place the Vietnamese characters moving back further into the background of several European civil servants. To achieve this project, Tardieu will first create a series of drawings (between 1923 and 1925, see above the 77,5 X 54 cm), also a series of paintings (between 1925 and 1927) depicting the major characters used for the fresco. Once he defined “his subjects” including La Vaccination, Maternities, La Tonkinoise, and La Vietnamienne à l'Enfant, he repainted them on the major fresco 160m2 to compose an ode on progress.