Nguyen Gia Tri smashes art auction record
(VOV) - The hammer came down at VND2.2 billion for a painting by Nguyen Gia Tri at Larasati’s in Singapore recently, to cheers and applause in the saleroom.
The sales price set a new world record for highest price ever paid for any Vietnamese work of art sold at auction.
The lacquer painting, 121.5 x 171cm, entitled In the Garden was the second most expensive piece sold at the auction.
Another Vietnamese piece of work, Opera Player, by Bui Xuan Phai sold for nearly VND70 million.
Nguyen Gia Tri was born in 1908 and died in 1993. He was a famous painter and dominated the field of lacquer painting in Vietnam before 1945.
Tri was a leading force in turning lacquer painting from a decorative handicraft to a means of artistic expression.