Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art: Decline of the Day by Emperor Ham Nghi

February 21, 2022 / 27 Comments
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Terri of MeadowTree Style, and Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as curator, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the curator by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the curator will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join! You are invited to share your images on Instagram or other social media platforms. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

The Inspiration Artwork

The inspiration artwork was curated by Salazar. You can read why she chose this work here.

Decline of the Day by Emperor Ham Nghi (Oil on canvas, 1915)
Decline of the Day by Emperor Ham Nghi
green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Decline of the Day by Emperor Ham Nghi, Shelbee on the Edge, Style Imitating Art
About the Artist: Emperor Ham Nghi

Born on August 3, 1872, Ham Nghi was the eighth Emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty from 1884-1885. He was just 14 years old. The Nguyễn Dynasty was the last Vietnamese dynasty which independently ruled a unified state from 1802 until 1885. It began in 1802 when Gia Long ascended the throne but by the second half of the nineteenth century the dynasty had been slowly absorbed by France. Through treatises in 1883 and 1884, the remaining Vietnamese territory was split into two protectorates each with its own regent.

On July 4, 1885, an insurrection against the French broke out under the leadership of the two regents. In response, the French stormed the palace and Emperor Ham Nghi was taken into hiding along with three empresses. While guerrilla warfare was raging against the French occupation forces, the French replaced Ham Nghi with his brother, who was subsequently enthroned as the Son of Heaven. Meanwhile Ham Nghi was hiding in the hills and jungles surrounding Laos. In October 1888, Ham Nghi was isolated in a house near the spring of the Nai River when he was betrayed by the head of his guards and captured. He was turned over to French officers on November 2, 1888.

On December 12, 1888, at the age of 16, Ham Nghi was exiled to Algeria where he would live for the rest of his life. While he was in exile, the dethroned teenage emperor turned to art as a way to connect with his home country. Through his painting, he was able to illustrate his love and yearning for Vietnam. Many of his paintings are dated 1889, in first year in exile. Influenced by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, his paintings carry the darker shade of sadness of a king who lost his country.

The French government quickly noticed the fallen emperor’s talent and wanted to spread Vietnamese culture so they assigned French painter Marius Reynaud to mentor the king. Beginning in 1893, Ham Nghi would take biannual summer trips to Paris where he continued to study painting and learned sculpture. He would spend his entire days engaged in the process of making his art.

On November 4, 1904, Ham Nghi married a French Algerian woman and together they had a son and two daughters. In 1926, he held an art exhibition in Paris making him one of the first two Vietnamese artists to begin a modern painting movement in Vietnam…oil painting with a western technique. Ham Nghi died on January 14, 1943, at the age of 70 in Algiers where he is buried in a simple grave.

This article is a really fascinating and detailed read about the life of Ham Nghi from Vietnam to his exile to his life in Algiers and Paris.

Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
About the Art: Decline of the Day

Painted in 1915, “Decline of the Day” was originally titled “La route De El Biar”. The title “Déclin Du Jour” was found on a piece of paper clipped to the back of the wooden frame behind the painting which read, “Decline of the day behind Annam Castle, painted by Emperor Ham Nghi in 1915”. The paper also read “Gift from Prince Annam” and was signed Tu Xua which is one of a few different names that the emperor used to sign his works in exile.

Annam was the French protectorate that encompassed central Vietnam so I assume this landscape is the artist’s remembrance of his former home from which he had been exiled. At the time he painted this landscape, he would not have seen Annam for 30 years.

The oil painting measures 35 cm x 46 cm (14 in x 18 in) and showcases the rolling hills and lush vegetation beneath the shadow of tall trees as the sun begins to set over his childhood home. Void of any humans it appears to be a melancholy recollection of the home he was forced to leave forever. It features rich, dark earth tones of greens, blues, oranges, and browns placed against a pale pink horizon. A dark yet vibrant blue brush stroke outlines all of the forms in the painting.

Many of Ham Nghi’s oil paintings are of French and Algerian landscapes with very few human figures appearing in any of them, evidence that he was sad and lonely during the time that he was creating these works. However, he did create various bronze and plaster statues of women including his most famous statue of Eve holding an apple in one hand while she bows her head to hide her face with the other arm as if she is turning away from the reality of losing her paradise. An apparent parallel to the young king’s own loss of is kingdom, his paradise.

“He was painting western scenes with a Vietnamese soul.”

Amadine Dabat, a fifth-generation descendant of King Ham Nghi

During a 1962 battle in Algeria, many of Ham Nghi’s works were destroyed when his house was burned. Fewer than 100 works exist today, the ones that were gifted to friends or family members that remain primarily in private collections.

“Decline of the Day” was sold at auction in 2010 to a French collector for 8,800 euros ($9,240 US).

References/Resources:

Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
About My Outfit Inspired by Decline of the Day

I was really drawn to the rich shades of blues and greens in the landscape of the painting with the three tall skinny pine trees at the center capturing my most attention. I immediately knew I wanted to style an outfit that resembled a tall green tree…so I needed something green and long.

I had picked up this gorgeous green duster from Torrid a while back and had forgotten about it because it wasn’t seasonally appropriate at the time. Then I remembered it and wondered what the heck I would wear under it. But I didn’t need to wonder for long because I had one of those wonderful serendipitous moments again…the green duster just happened to be hanging right beside this green maxi dress that also was bought off season and remained unworn until now.

The dress is a bit more teal than the duster and features a subtle monochromatic paisley print. But I think the colors complement each other perfectly and the paisley print reminds me of the hard blue lines in the painting. The high neck and maxi length of these prairie style dresses do not suit my frame well unless I belt them so I never count out a specific trend until I have tried it a few ways. Belting is an easy trick that saves a lot of clothing from the donation bin.

I wanted to bring in some shades of rust or brown to reflect the ground from which the green trees grow so I went for over the knee lace up boots in brown with a coordinating cloche hat.

There is also that beautiful light blue hill top in the top left section of the painting that kept catching my eye. To honor that lonely hill the distance, I tossed a light blue blanket scarf around my shoulders. And it was like magic…the light blue against all the dark green really made me smile!

I allowed the snowy white background of my winter wonderland to represent the pinks and whites of the sky. At first I tried a pale mauve bucket hat because the color was exactly like the pink in the sky, but the style was all wrong for the outfit so I ditched it in favor of the more cohesively colored hat.

Then I headed out into some serious wind to get these photos followed by a trip to the grocery store. When I got home, I was back in leggings. But I sure felt great for the two hours that I wore this outfit!

How did I do translating the painting into an outfit?

Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art
Shelbee on the Edge, green maxi dress, winter style, Style Imitating Art

Be sure to check out Salazar’s interpretation of the painting as well as Terri’s take on it. And please visit Salazar on Wednesday to see her round up post of outfit submissions.

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Duster and Belt-Torrid / Dress and Scarf-Target / Boots-JustFab / Hat-Kohl’s / Gloves-Wona Trading / Earrings and Necklace-Old

I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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