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Expressive: Robert Mihagui and his works at the Homeland Colors: West&East exhibition now in HCM City. — Photo Sunny Rose |
HCM CITY — Thirty contemporary oil paintings by French-Vietnamese artist Robert Mihagui are on display at an exhibition in HCM City.
Jacques Blanchard, an architect and Mihagui's friend, says there are few differences between the man and his art: "We find the same dominating characteristics, the spontaneity, and the instinctive gesture."
But, depending on their own perspective, beholders can read different things from a single work. Thus, a painting could portray the tranquil landscapes of Touraine in France, which are dear to his heart, or the stark beauty of northern Viet Nam where he spent his early childhood.
The riot of colours provoke a patchwork of feelings, from dazzling joy to a Vietnamese melancholy, giving his works a strength and charm of which it is not easy to grow tired.
Mihagui was born in 1945 in Vinh Phu Province during French colonial time. He studied fine arts from 1961 to 1964 in Surgeres, France, after moving to that country in 1958 with his father.
He spent much time travelling in the painting circles of Montmartre to the detriment of his studies after deciding at a fairly young age that his passion was painting and his calling was in the arts.
He was interested in pictorial techniques and pigments.
At 25, he hit upon a personal style which is somewhere between abstraction and post-impressionism though his works were impressionist in the beginning.
He narrates an interesting story for his move towards abstraction.
"I was disappointed with a work I had just finished. I wiped it off by petrol and went to sleep. The first guest who came to my studio the next day insisted on buying that picture which had now become quite so interesting."
He now views his style as a reconciliation of Vietnamese and European aesthetics, with the language of modern Western abstraction being enriched by a Vietnamese sensibility rooted in the past.
In 1975 he spent six months restoring the dome of Saint Augustin's Church in Paris, France, believing there could be no better inspiration than that born from manual work in such a spiritual place.
He currently lives in Viet Nam, refreshing his memories of its spectacular landscapes.
The exhibition, titled Homeland Colors: West&East, will be on until Saturday at Phuong Mai, 129B, Le Thanh Ton Street, District in HCM City.
The works on display can also be seen at http//www.vietnam-art.com.vn.
The paintings are priced at US$1,000-$3,000. — VNS