Hàm Nghi (1871-1944): exiled emperor and first modern Vietnamese artist

Hàm Nghi.Self-portrait.1896.graphite on paper. Private collection.

Conference at 18:00 p.m. by Amandine Dabat, Doctor in art history (Paris-Sorbonne University – Paris IV).

France's colonial policy in Indochina is at the origin of the first modern Vietnamese artist, in the person of Hàm Nghi (1871-1944), known as "Prince of Annam". This Vietnamese emperor was exiled in 1889 to French Algeria at the age of eighteen, where he became a painter and sculptor. The young prince, integrated into French society, was trained in painting and drawing by the orientalist painter Marius Reynaud. He rubbed shoulders with many artists of his time during his regular stays in Paris. Auguste Rodin taught him the fundamental principles of sculpture. This conference will explain how a former Vietnamese emperor, exiled all his life in Algiers, appropriated French art to create a modern work, that of the first known Vietnamese artist.