“It was simply an act of erasing the trace,” Phuong said in an interview with Thanh Nien.

“I had photographed all the web pages that had printed information regarding this auction.” Sotheby’s, considered the world oldest second auction house, put up the four paintings from its Hong Kong office.

According to Phuong, the paintings belonged to an overseas Vietnamese (Viet kieu) named Phillip Ng.

The owner had supposedly gained nearly US$600,000 from selling “fake” works this April, Phuong said.

“The highest price in that collection went to one lacquer painting copying Phai’s ‘Cheo actors,’” Phuong said. “But my father never painted in lacquer. It was marked at $120,000 – an unbelievable price in Vietnam, even for a real picture.”

According to Phuong, Ha Thuc Can, another Viet kieu collector who has passed away, had told him that during the early days, Vietnam’s Fine Arts Museum even allowed people to copy exhibited works for a small fee.

“At the time, no one knew about copyright law. I think it was all for the love of art,” he said. “Can even used to own a collection of copies of major works. Too cheap, $50 each.”

Most collectors who put up fake works for sale knew that these weren’t real, according to Phuong. “Otherwise, they would keep them as long as possible to be able to mark higher prices,” he said.

This case emphasizes how Vietnam has left the world of art auction untouched – a game, Phuong said, that is played only by foreigners.

“If we know how to play this game, perhaps there would be foreigners willing to pay extremely high prices for major works,” he said.

“What I hope to gain is encouraging cooperation between Vietnamese painters, artists, and auction houses. So that we could establish and gain a better respect for our country’s cultural heritage.”

Cheo 3 nguoi (Three traditional operetta people), the genuine work by the renowned Vietnamese painter.

The fake lacquer painting. Bui Xuan Phai’s son says his father never worked on lacquer.

Reported by Ngoc Luong