Nguyen Cat Tuong (Vietnamese, 1912-1946), alias LeMur
Mother and child
signed and dated 1940 (lower right)
ink and gouache on silk
74,5 X 38,5 cm. (29 1/4 x 15 1/4 in.)
painted in 1940

We can make our way to a better understanding of a man who was not only a talented painter but also one of these – very rare… – a social actor with the capacity to change society, in this case, the Vietnamese urban society of the 1930s.

The uniqueness of this painting is the importance of fabric, used for finishing or to wear, chosen as the central theme. The decor is structured by the characters. The plot is the bed and the lady’s clothes. In a way, the lady and the child are not individuals but mannequins (figuratively speaking). Nguyen Cat Tuong states that the form translates the reality and the designer that he is – also – it play a political role (too often underestimated). First of all, clothing is a social message. An irrefutable attribute. To shape it, to refine it, even to impose it and to exclude one self or others from it : this is true activism. The color, the cut, a fringe, a hem, a shoe, every detail becomes a political instrument.