Vu Cao Dam (Vietnamese, 1908-2000).

Oil on canvas painting titled “Maternity,” 1966. This painting depicts a mother in a blush pink dress holding a baby or child dressed in blue. They appear to be standing out in a garden with blooming flowers behind them. Signed and dated 66 along the lower right. Vu Cao Dam was born in Hanoi, Vietnam in 1908, the fifth of fourteen children of whom only nine would reach adulthood. He attended the Ece des Beaux Arts de Indochine from 1926 to 1931. The following year he received a scholarship to study sculpture in Paris, but soon turned to painting. His early works were primarily on silk and influenced by traditional Chinese paintings. After eighteen years, Vu Cao Dam traveled to the south of France where he continued to specialize in painting. His subject matter was typically women – lone women, women with children, or women with horses – depicted with soft brush strokes in pastel colors of pink, blue, and white. It was during this time that Vu Cao Dam became an acquaintance of Marc Chagall (1887-1985) who influenced his works as well as Impressionist artists such as Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). Vu Cao Dam died in France in 2000.

Sight; height: 15 7/8 in x width: 12 5/8 in.
Framed; height: 23 3/4 in x width: 20 3/4 in.