Breaking news: On March 28, 2026, Christie's "20th Century Day Sale" officially commenced. Huang Jizhu's "Northern Scenery of Chini," estimated at HKD 1,600,000-2,600,000, hammered at HKD 5,800,000, with a final price of HKD 366,000 including commission.Breaking personal auction record(Breaks the record set on December 2, 2021, by Christie's Hong Kong Chinook, HKD 2,500,000).

His status in the Vietnamese art world can be viewed from the following perspectives:

1. A status of unparalleled prestige

• backboneHe graduated from a prestigious university.Indochina Peninsula Academy of Fine Arts(11th session, 1936-1941) The academy is the cradle of modern Vietnamese art.
• Educational giantHe taught at the Hanoi Academy of Fine Arts for many years, nurturing a large number of later renowned artists and making a significant contribution to modern art education in Vietnam.

2. Technological Breakthrough: Making Lacquer Paintings "Glow"

Before Huang Jizhu, lacquer painting colors were relatively dark and monotonous. His main contribution was:

• Color InnovationHe successfully applied [the following techniques] in lacquer painting.blueandEmerald greenIt broke the traditional limitation of lacquer painting, which only used black, red, brown, gold, and silver.
• Light and shadow layersHe innovatively used the eggshell lacquer technique to express light and transparency, giving the painting a Western sense of space and an Eastern charm.

3. Market Value and Scarcity

• record holderHis auction records at Christie's Hong Kong continue to climb, demonstrating the recognition of his art historical status by top collectors.
• Classic themeHe excels at portraying rural Vietnam.pastoral sceneryandordinary life(For example, the "Qini" series) The works are full of lyricism and have great decorative and collectible value.

4. The Four Masters of Vietnamese Lacquer Painting

Although there are different accounts at different times, in the field of lacquer painting, he is usually associated with...Nguyen Gia Tri,Nguyen KhangHe is ranked alongside others and is considered the founder of Vietnamese lacquer painting art.

As Vietnam's economy grows, many Vietnamese collectors have begun to repurchase works by masters from overseas.In the Vietnamese art market, Hoang Chi Tu's works are currently experiencing a price rebound. Since the works of Vietnam's veteran masters have long been designated "national treasures" and strictly prohibited from leaving the country, commanding extremely high prices, Hoang Chi Tu's works, of similar caliber, large in size, and with a well-documented provenance in the open market, are becoming a new focal point for major Asian collectors.

The auction record increases for the same work by Hoang Tich Chu, created sequentially, are as follows:

1. Transaction price growth:
   From HK$2.5 million in 2021 to HK$2.5 million in 2026HK$7.366 millionNet increase in transaction priceHK$4.866 million.
2. Percentage increase:
   Over a period of approximately four years, the artist's highest auction record increased by approximately [amount missing].194.6%(That is, it has increased by nearly 2 times).
3. Premium situation:
   The final sale price of "Northern View of Chini" in 2026 was approximately its highest estimated price ($2.6 million).2.8 timesThis shows that market demand for the artist's top works far exceeds expectations.

Analysis of Huang Jizhu's "Northern Scenery of Qini"

The choreography of lacquer art

In this magnificent lacquer painting, the artist depicts a dynamic landscape: numerous conical hills, terraced fields, and stilted houses; ponies weaving through the landscape, one brown and another white; water buffalo and farmers transplanting rice or guiding other buffalo to pull plows. All of this is based on the artist's observations of nature and dreamlike scenery during a three-month stay in the northern region of Tonkin during the Vietnamese New Year period from late 1948 to 1949.

A preliminary sketch drawn on-site at the end of 1948 and three tracing fragments (1:1 scale), the work likely produced in Hanoi in 1949, and the piece itself taking over 18 months to complete, offer a deep understanding of the painter's technique: drawing on the subject, then depicting and executing the lacquer painting itself in the studio. Hoang Ji Zhu loved color: yellow, red, white, black, green, silver, and gold burst forth in his work. This diversity was not excluded by the subtleties permitted by the unique nature of lacquer art; nuanced differences in hue, the choice between solid and powder, and the skillful use of eggshells all enhance the quality of the work.

The painter also utilized the difference in convexity and concavity of the eggshell fragments. Once covered with a layer of lacquer, the raised fragments appeared white, while the concave fragments appeared darker, enhancing the visual effect. Gold, in powder form in the water of the rice paddies, or as gold leaf in the sky above the mountains, magnified these two sources of life. On the other hand, silver powder was used for the bushes.

Let's take a moment to notice the tonal styling, the dual effect of eggshell and lacquer on one of the buffaloes. Numerous shadows—mountains, figures, and buffalo reflected in the water of the rice paddies—and numerous cuts that highlight the brown trunks and branches, or accentuate gold leaf elsewhere, show different processes.

—Jean-François Hubert, Senior Expert on Vietnamese Arts

It broke the record of HKD 2,500,000 held by Christie's Hong Kong Chinook on December 2, 2021.

About the artist

Hoang Ti Chu was a Vietnamese painter. Having lived through the turmoil of World War II and the subsequent decades of independence movements, his historical paintings are of considerable importance within the Vietnamese art system. He is the most senior of the second generation of Vietnamese painters, and his works have recently become highly sought after in the market. He was also a key figure in promoting lacquer painting; his work, "Arresting American Prisoners of War," depicts Vietnam's resilience and rise amidst the turbulent times and is widely recognized as a representative work of lacquer painting.

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