Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000)
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“Today there’s a search for a multi-racial, multi-cultural expression and I think I’m the first to have tried to reconcile, in a way that will not upset tradition, my Asian roots with my idea of what I understand of the Western Masters.” - Vu Cao Dam
Vu Cao Dam was a renowned Vietnamese-born modern painter and a graduate of Hanoi’s Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts d’Indochine (College of Fine Arts of Vietnam). The second half of his career was spent in Paris, where he and other Vietnamese emigrés, including Mai Trung Thu, Le Pho, and Le Thi Luu, lived, exhibited, and established careers far from their native country.
Vu Cao Dam was born on January 8, 1908, to Vu Dinh Thi and Pham Thi Cuc; he was the fifth of 14 children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. His father—a convert to Catholicism who spoke excellent French—was the founder and director of the Hanoi School of Interpreters, which educated Mandarins to serve the French colonial government. A cultured, literary man who was also a master of Chinese calligraphy, Vu Dinh Thi raised his children to admire French culture while sharing his respect for Confucianism and Chinese literature.
In 1926, Dam entered the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts. He studied painting with the school’s founder, Victor Tardieu, and decoration with Joseph Inguimberty. He also studied architecture, and as a result, Vu Cao Dam’s early paintings depicted ancient monuments, including Van Mieu Temple and Bach Ma Pagoda. When a sculpture program was established, Dam created several portrait busts, including one of his father and another of Victor Tardieu. The bronze bust of Victor Tardieu was later donated to the Ecole des Beaux Arts d’Indochine by the Tardieu family.
After his graduation in 1931, Vu Cao Dam received a scholarship that allowed him to travel to France, where he would remain for the rest of his life. During the ocean voyage to his new home, Vu Cao Dam made portrait busts of two other passengers: the French minister Paul Reynaud and his daughter. Upon arrival, Vu Cao Dam participated in the 1931 Exposition Coloniale Internationale, directed by his former mentor Victor Tardieu. He then enrolled in the Ecole du Louvre and exhibited his works in several important salons. Vu Cao Dam continued working in a favorite medium—gouache and ink on silk—creating exquisite paintings that displayed remarkable skill and lightness of touch.
France provided Vu Cao Dam with life-changing exposure to modern art. While living in the dormitories of the Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris, he discovered and took an interest in the works of sculptors Giacometti and Rodin. In galleries and museums, he carefully studied paintings by Renoir, Van Gogh, Bonnard, and Matisse. At the 1937 World’s Fair—where his friend Le Pho was an art director for the Indochinese display—he saw Picasso’s “Guernica.”
In 1938, Vu Cao Dam married Renee Appriou, with whom he would have two children. When the German occupation began in 1940, bronze casting was banned, so the artist worked for several years in terracotta. After the Liberation, he exhibited in a group show at the Roux-Hentschel Galerie with Le Pho and Mai Thu. In 1946, he had an audience with Ho Chi Minh, resulting in a bust and medallion.
Poor health—he suffered from asthma—forced Vu Cao Dam to leave Paris in 1949. He moved to Les Heures Claires, just over 20 miles from Marseilles, not far from Matisse’s Chapel du Rosaire in Vence. Living in the south of France also gave Vu Cao Dam access to other notable artists living nearby, including Marc Chagall and Jean Dubuffet. A successful exhibit in Aix en Provence in 1954 led to numerous sales and an introduction to tailor Michele Sapone, an Italian immigrant known for exchanging tailored suits for works of art. Exhibitions in Brussels, London, and New York built Vu Cao Dam’s international reputation during the 1960s.
Vu Cao Dam died in Paris on July 23, 2000, at the age of 92.
Vu Cao Dam was a renowned Vietnamese-born modern painter and a graduate of Hanoi’s Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts d’Indochine (College of Fine Arts of Vietnam). The second half of his career was spent in Paris, where he and other Vietnamese emigrés, including Mai Trung Thu, Le Pho, and Le Thi Luu, lived, exhibited, and established careers far from their native country.
Vu Cao Dam was born on January 8, 1908, to Vu Dinh Thi and Pham Thi Cuc; he was the fifth of 14 children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. His father—a convert to Catholicism who spoke excellent French—was the founder and director of the Hanoi School of Interpreters, which educated Mandarins to serve the French colonial government. A cultured, literary man who was also a master of Chinese calligraphy, Vu Dinh Thi raised his children to admire French culture while sharing his respect for Confucianism and Chinese literature.
In 1926, Dam entered the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts. He studied painting with the school’s founder, Victor Tardieu, and decoration with Joseph Inguimberty. He also studied architecture, and as a result, Vu Cao Dam’s early paintings depicted ancient monuments, including Van Mieu Temple and Bach Ma Pagoda. When a sculpture program was established, Dam created several portrait busts, including one of his father and another of Victor Tardieu. The bronze bust of Victor Tardieu was later donated to the Ecole des Beaux Arts d’Indochine by the Tardieu family.
After his graduation in 1931, Vu Cao Dam received a scholarship that allowed him to travel to France, where he would remain for the rest of his life. During the ocean voyage to his new home, Vu Cao Dam made portrait busts of two other passengers: the French minister Paul Reynaud and his daughter. Upon arrival, Vu Cao Dam participated in the 1931 Exposition Coloniale Internationale, directed by his former mentor Victor Tardieu. He then enrolled in the Ecole du Louvre and exhibited his works in several important salons. Vu Cao Dam continued working in a favorite medium—gouache and ink on silk—creating exquisite paintings that displayed remarkable skill and lightness of touch.
France provided Vu Cao Dam with life-changing exposure to modern art. While living in the dormitories of the Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris, he discovered and took an interest in the works of sculptors Giacometti and Rodin. In galleries and museums, he carefully studied paintings by Renoir, Van Gogh, Bonnard, and Matisse. At the 1937 World’s Fair—where his friend Le Pho was an art director for the Indochinese display—he saw Picasso’s “Guernica.”
In 1938, Vu Cao Dam married Renee Appriou, with whom he would have two children. When the German occupation began in 1940, bronze casting was banned, so the artist worked for several years in terracotta. After the Liberation, he exhibited in a group show at the Roux-Hentschel Galerie with Le Pho and Mai Thu. In 1946, he had an audience with Ho Chi Minh, resulting in a bust and medallion.
Poor health—he suffered from asthma—forced Vu Cao Dam to leave Paris in 1949. He moved to Les Heures Claires, just over 20 miles from Marseilles, not far from Matisse’s Chapel du Rosaire in Vence. Living in the south of France also gave Vu Cao Dam access to other notable artists living nearby, including Marc Chagall and Jean Dubuffet. A successful exhibit in Aix en Provence in 1954 led to numerous sales and an introduction to tailor Michele Sapone, an Italian immigrant known for exchanging tailored suits for works of art. Exhibitions in Brussels, London, and New York built Vu Cao Dam’s international reputation during the 1960s.
Vu Cao Dam died in Paris on July 23, 2000, at the age of 92.