Love is always a multitude of emotions. To think it, takes courage, to know it, requires experience and to paint it, demands talent. In Hue, 1937, Mai Thu painted this magnificent and extremely rare one-off piece, decidedly different to his usual style at the time, with beautiful women and children showcasing his nostalgic references to his homeland. The gouache and the ink on silk are mediums he will use much later on to great acclaim. However, to describe and to capture forever his dazzling love, the great master decided to embark on a medium he could work with thoroughly - oil on canvas. This technique allows repentances unlike painting on silk laid on paper.

The story about this painting is well known: in 1937, at a time when Mai Thu already graduated from the Fine-Art School of Hanoi, and since then, had worked for the Lycée of Hue as an art teacher, specialising in drawing. While teaching, he continued to draw and paint, and the young lady painted as the main protagonist here was one of his favourite students. There was a hint of strong romance and affection in the air, but being older than her and a perfect gentleman, he never acted inappropriately on it and instead captured and immortalised her the best way he knew how - on canvas.

Contrary to his later and more conventional portraits, Mai Thu paints this work by offering us a recognizable face, capturing her posture as well. The beautiful young girl, her eyes looking down modestly, dressed with in a traditional ao dai; her face framed by her hair tied and gathered up in a bun. She does not pose, she is captured by the artist. Every detail is gracious, elegant and delicate, exemplified by the gentle way and manner in which she touches her hand to the flowers. Skillfully, the artist surrounds her with neutral background, mostly defined by a linear delineation of the fence in the background so the viewer is drawn by the intense relationship, in that instant, between the young lady and the flowers.

It is like Mai Thu, in his creation, was inspired by Man Giac (1052-1096), in these following verses:

Spring goes, a hundred flowers fall
Spring comes, a hundred flowers smile
Before the eyes, life passes by
On my head, age has settled
Don’t think when spring ends, all the flowers fall
Last night in the courtyard, an apricot blossomed.

The freshly cut lotus flower, not yet open, represent the freshness of his love and affection for the young lady. It is a kind reminder of the fragility and part of a flying moment in time, a grace that cannot last. The painting was one of the last precious memories in Vietnam, and was so meaningful to him that he even took it with him on the boat in 1937, when he left for Paris to attend the Universal Salon and Exhibition. She, however stayed in Hue, leaving him with such bittersweet sorrow.

As he got off the boat later that year, he experienced so much - the splendours of Paris, the close company of friends with Le Pho (settled definitively in Paris the same year), Vu Cao Dam (who arrived in 1931) then Le Thi Luu (1940), the hard times of the war against Germany, the first successes as an artist, yet nothing made him forget this young lady of Hue. He saw his close friends, Vu Cao Dam and Le Pho, get married thereafter with French women but even then, Mai Thu remained faithful to his love, feeling strongly a cultural nostalgia for Vietnam which he expressed vividly and elegantly in all his paintings.

In 1962, Mai Thu made a big decision, choosing to return to his native Vietnam 25 years later. He then found out that his loved one was no longer in Hue but in Saigon. He did manage to see her again, but according to the owner of the painting who witnessed their meeting together, the charm was broken: the young lady was the mother of a large family and the magic has disappeared, and heartbroken, Mai Thu returned to France. The painting was exhibited in Paris after being brought there, before the wife of Mai Thu’s brother bought it from him in the 1950s as a present to celebrate her son’s and his wife first diplomatic posting as he became the Chancellor for France in Ceylon.

Mai Thu, the most Vietnamese of the ‘Parisian’ group, a lover of Vietnamese traditional music, also a filmmaker, was never able to forget her coquettish smile mixed with the inherent grace of the young ladies of Hue. Furthermore, he probably never forgot the fresh and pure air coming from the mountains of Laos, traveling along the waters of the magnificent River of Perfumes.

Nguyen Binh (1918-1966) relates so well the drift of his thoughts in The Boat Girl:

After three years had passed, spring came again
But time had brought her passion to an end
No need to wait for what seasons may bring
She gave up her dream of seeing that friend.
Farewell boat, farewell rowing, farewell tide
The boat girl left as another man’s bride,
But since her leaving the river that spring
Many longed for the face of their young guide.

Love still remains a treason, but from this treason, the artist transforms it into immortality, a timeless love transcending the years.

Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Vietnamese Art