Lê Thi Luu (1911 - 1988). Woman and child. Ink and gouache on silk mounted on cardboard, signed and dated 49 lower left (small lack and scratch). Height: 45 cm - Width: 32 cm Original molded wood frame with patina. Note: despite the patriarchal context, Lê Thi Luu, of Vietnamese origin, was the first woman to enter the Hanoi Ecole des Beaux-Arts at the age of 15, under the guidance of Victor Tardieu and Joseph Inguimberty. After the 1937 Universal Exhibition, she moved to Paris, where she met up with friends such as Mai Trung Thu, Lê Pho and Vu Cao Dam. Her work focuses mainly on intimate scenes of children's portraits or maternity scenes, filled with tenderness, as shown in the work opposite. His very elongated brushstrokes and faces reminiscent of those of Lê Pho are a rare testimony to his early work, which differs from his portraits of the 1970s with their more Westernized faces. On his death, his family bequeathed most of his works to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts. Despite her prolific output of almost three hundred paintings, very few of them have survived the passage of time, and some can now be found in a few museums or private collections. Although relatively unknown to the general public, Lê Thi Luu is today considered one of the most important Vietnamese painters of her time, having succeeded in freeing herself from the Confucian yoke.