Lê Phổ (2 August 1907 – 12 December 2001) was a

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

painter of the

School of Paris The School of Paris (, ) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance of Paris as a centre o ...

. From 1925 until 1930, Le Pho studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Hanoi. At this point, he earned a scholarship to study at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and he studied there for the next two years under the instruction of Victor Tardieu, a friend and companion of Henri Matisse. Upon returning to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

he taught at the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts de l'Indochine in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. In 1937, he gave up his professorship to return to Paris as a part of the International Exposition in Paris as both a delegate and a member of the exposition's jury. In 1938, he had his first one-man show in Paris, a show which marked the beginning of his successful artistic career in Europe. He would go on to show his art across France in Paris, Nice, Lyon, and Rouen, as well as in Morocco, Brussels in Europe, and in New York. Le Pho's work is often divided into three distinct styles. The first style is from his period in Hanoi, and on to his first couple years in Paris. In works from this period we see depictions of the Vietnamese landscape of Le Pho's youth, paintings steeped with nostalgia and the historical magnificence of the country. Following this style came what is commonly known as Le Pho's Romanet period, named after the French gallery owner who became Le Pho's major promoter. This period would last until the 1960s. In 1963, Le Pho's work was noticed by the American gallerist Wally Findlay, owner of Findlay galleries, who ordered many of his canvases and sold them to the American market, marking the beginning of Le Pho's final artistic period, his Findlay Period. This is perhaps his most recognizable period, where he produced more works in oil on canvas and featured his distinctly depicted Vietnamese women surrounded by lush landscapes. Many people consider the strong shifts in medium, subject, and style between these three periods to be a testament to Le Pho's versatility as an artist. Though he travelled for his shows, he continued to call Paris his home from 1937 until the time of his death in 2001. He was one of four EBAI graduates who made a career in Paris, including Mai Trung Thứ,

Vũ Cao Đàm Vũ Cao Đàm (1908-2000) was a Vietnamese painter. He was one of the alumni of Victor Tardieu's École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi in the 1930s, along with Mai Trung Thu, Mai Trung Thứ, Le Pho, Lê Phổ and woman painter Lê Thị ...

and female painter

Lê Thị Lựu Lê Thị Lựu (黎氏榴, 19 January 1911 – 6 June 1988) was a Vietnamese woman painter. She was one of the first women and rare notable female alumni of Victor Tardieu's École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi, becoming the schoo ...

. He painted scenery of Vietnam, still life with flowers, family settings and portraits. Vietnamese women, most often portrayed as elongated figures evoking the influence of surrealism, are a recurrent theme in his work. In 2025, his work was featured in an exhibition in Paris commerating Asian artists of the School of Paris.

References

External links

Biography of Artist Le PhoLe Pho WebsiteLe Pho Bio - Findlay GalleriesPocock Fine Art
Gallery specializes in the artist's paintings on the secondary market.
Harmony in Green: The two sisters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Pho 1907 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Vietnamese painters Vietnamese expatriates in France Artists from Hanoi 20th-century male artists Male painters École des Beaux-Arts alumni