Born in Kien An, Mai Trung Thu (1906-1990) graduated from the Ecole des Beaux Arts de I’Indochine in 1930. Working in the traditional Vietnamese medium of painting on silk, his favourite subjects were women and children executed in the style reminiscent of paintings from the court in Hue. In 1937, Thu was invited to participate in an exhibition in France and he stayed on there until his death in 1980. The colour tones used, like in many of Thu’s works, are lightly washed on silk to create images that are subtle and elegant. His delicate and graceful figures, reading or playing music, are his most recognizable recurring motifs in his art. This painting is also an unusually large piece in Thu’s oeuvre.
