4. * Nguyen Gia Tri (Vietnamese, 1908-1993) Sonate du pays des fées signed Ng. Tri (lower right) lacquer, gold and eggshell on wooden panel 60 x 80 cm (23 5/8 x 31 1/2 in) This work is accompanied with a certificate of authenticity issued by Nguyen Gia Tue, the artist's son, in 1999. Provenance Private collection, Asia, acquired directly from the artist's family in the 1990s. Acquired from the above by the present owner in the early 2000s. Private collection, Asia. SONATA FROM FAIRYLAND: AN ENCHANTING LACQUER BY NGUYEN GIA TRI - NGÔ KIM-KHÔI Under the alchemical fingers of Nguyen Gia Tri, Sonate du pays des fées (60 x 80 cm), signed Ng. Tri, awakens like a portal to an enchanted world. This lacquerware embodies the genius of a master who transformed Vietnamese lacquerware into an ode to timeless beauty, a treasure to be celebrated on the centenary of the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine (EBAI). A tableau vivant, a celestial choreography A deep red, as fiery as sacred earth, envelops the canvas, streaked with warm browns and flashes of gold that evoke a mystical dawn. In this setting, eight feminine silhouettes, graceful in their áo dài like fairies or spirits, dance a silent choreography, their light bodies seeming to float above a dream garden. To the left, a fairy, her fingers resting on a đàn tì bà, vibrates invisible strings, as if her melody were weaving the air around her; her notes, though mute, seem to resonate in the ether, caressing the contours of an invisible world. Another, seated beside her, her hair cascading like a river of ink, contemplates a kneeling companion whose posture evokes an offering to nature - a humble, almost sacred gesture, as if she were placing a vow at the feet of a forest divinity. To the right, three figures soar like the Three Graces, carried away in a fluid movement; their intertwined arms evoke the breath of the wind caressing the bare branches, their áo dài floating like veils of mist. These branches, sketched with spider-like delicacy and enhanced with gold, shoot up from the background like lightning in an abstract sky, adding poetic tension to the scene. Below, two fairies rest, their elongated bodies following the curve of an imaginary ground; one, lying on her side, seems to be dreaming, while the other, half upright, stares out at a distant horizon, her eyes lost in infinite contemplation. Golden foliage, scattered like fallen stars, punctuates the space with an ethereal light, as if this garden were a fragment of the universe torn from the heavens. "You came like a cloud, in the bend of a sigh, / Without reason, without season, just a breath to catch. / The wind from the mountains passed by, caressing your gaze, / And in the air, your perfume glided, subtle and rare..." (Đinh Hùng) Each figure, inlaid with white eggshells, reveals a cracked texture, similar to a broken porcelain mosaic. The finely drawn áo dài capture the timeless grace of Vietnamese women, their delicate folds seeming to undulate in an invisible breeze. The contrast between the fragility of the silhouettes and the richness of the red and gold background creates an illusion of life: these fairies, at once present and evanescent, seem ready to vanish into the ether, leaving behind them only a breath of magic. The red, vibrating like a beating heart, anchors the work in an earthy warmth - a Vietnamese earth brimming with memory - while the gold, applied in subtle touches, evokes a divine light, as if this garden existed on the edge of reality and the imaginary. Each detail - a floating lock of hair, a suspended gesture, a gold leaf glinting in a ray of light - invites us to plunge into this universe, to lose ourselves in its dreamlike meanderings, where time fades away to make way for an infinite reverie. A hymn to beauty, a symbol of the ephemeral Sonate du pays des fées is more than just a lacquer; it's a celebration of femininity and the ephemeral, themes dear to Nguyen Gia Tri. These fairies, graceful and elusive in their áo dài, embody the fragile beauty of nature and the Vietnamese spirit, a people whose resilience is expressed in gentleness. Their dance, their music, their repose, all evoke a cosmic harmony, a captured moment where the world of mortals and that of spirits meet. The fairytale setting, with its bare branches and golden foliage, suggests an eternal autumn, where beauty is born of melancholy - an autumn where the golden leaves, frozen in lacquer, will never fall. Through this work, Nguyen Gia Tri whispers an ancient truth: even in the ephemeral, there is an eternity to be contemplated, an eternity in which the grace of Vietnamese women, draped in their áo dài, becomes a universal song. "Shoulder to shoulder, a roof of worms invites itself in, / The moon in confidence, and the breeze a visitor. / Happiness, in the distance, sketches a gentle glow, / A discreet smile that the evening reflects..." (Đinh Hùng) The art of lacquer: a patient alchemy Nguyen Gia Tri (1908-1993), who trained at EBAI, revolutionised traditional lacquerware by transforming it from a decorative craft into a medium of pure expression. In Sonate du pays des fées, he superimposes layers of natural resin, each polished with monastic patience, until he achieves a hypnotic depth where the colours seem to dance. The process is a ritual: the resin, extracted from the lacquer tree, is applied in thin layers, dried, then hand-polished with stones or charcoal to reveal a shimmering brilliance. The gold, applied in delicate shards, acts like a mirror of light, capturing reflections that bring the scene to life - a glow that seems to pulse, as if the work were breathing. The eggshells, inlaid with the precision of a goldsmith, create a tactile texture: each crack is a trace of time, each fragment an echo of human fragility, as if Nguyen Gia Tri wanted to capture the soul of the fairies in a material as delicate as themselves. This technique, inherited from Vietnamese craftsmen but sublimated by Nguyen Gia Tri, takes weeks, even months, to achieve such perfection - a perfection in which the surface of the lacquer becomes a mirror of the soul, reflecting both light and history. Each layer of lacquer, each flash of gold, each piece of shell tells a story - the story of an artist who has transformed matter into poetry. As EBAI celebrates its centenary, Sonate du pays des fées deserves to be celebrated - with an animation, an exhibition, or an immersive experience that takes the public on a journey through its fairytale world, so that it continues to illuminate future generations.