Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Some 40 sketches by lacquer artist Nguyen Gia Tri will be displayed at the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum to mark his 110th birthday on June 26.
The sketches vary in size, ranging from the smallest measuring 15x11cm to the largest at 67x106cm.
Tri used various materials for lacquer paintings, which is known in Viet Nam as son mai, including ball-point pen, charcoal, watercolour, felt-tipped pen, oil on canvas and wax-colour. His sketches depicted landscape, human characters and designs and themes dealing with the national history.
The 40 sketches have been selected from the collection of the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts. The museum collected these sketches from 1991 to 2010.
Tri is considered a legend in the history of modern Vietnamese fine arts. Born in the northern province of Ha Tay, he enrolled at the Escole Superieure des Beaux Arts de I’Indochine (Indochina Arts College) in 1929.
At the college, his talent was noticed by French director Victor Tardieu and his professor, Joseph Inguimberty, early on through his works. Together with his classmates To Ngoc Van, Tran Van Can and Pham Hau, Tri experimented with lacquer resin, thanks to the encouragement and support of Inguimberty.
Tri developed a special interest in the lacquer technique of painting and devoted most of his time to its research. He graduated from college in 1936 after attending two courses.
He had, however, stopped his first course (1928-1933) to study son mai.
“During this time, he noticed differences while using lacquer resin to make traditional craft objects and paintings. He made lacquer resin popular in modern painting,” said fine art critic Nguyen Hai Yen at a seminar on son mai held in Ha Noi last week. She added that Tri was the first artist who took up lacquer resin as a new painting medium.
He later returned to college to finish the course (1931-1936).
At the end of the 1980s, artworks by Tri were recognised as national treasure and were prohibited from being exported. During 1938-44, he made master son mai paintings, including Cho Bo (Bo Market), Doc Mung (Indian Taro) and Thieu Nu Trong Vuon (Girls in the Garden).
Vuon Xuan Trung Nam Bac (Centre South North Spring Garden) is another master painting by Tri. Measuring 540x200cm, the painting was bought by HCM City People’s Committee from the artist in 1991 for US$100,000. It was later presented to the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts.
Tri took 20 years (1969-89) to complete the painting. This was his last painting. He had a stroke while working on it in 1988 and had to ask his student, Nguyen Xuan Viet, to inlay a golden leaf in the painting.
Tri is the only Vietnamese artist whose paintings have been sold at a special price. The larger the painting, the higher the price.
The exhibition will be open to visitors until July 10 at 66, Nguyen Thai Hoc street, Ha Noi. — VNS