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Fantastic cat: Four of 12 cat sketches that artist Le Ba Dang has donated to Hue. | . |
HUE — Paris-based Vietnamese artist Le Ba Dang has donated his unique collection of 12 cat sketches to the city of Hue on the occasion of Viet Nam's Year of the Cat.
The collection will be displayed at Le Ba Dang Arts Centre, 15 Le Loi Street.
The paintings, many dating back to the 1950's, are typical of the first works Dang sold in Paris. Drawn in a Chinese calligraphy style, the ink portraits depict inquisitive, agile cats.
Dang decided he'd try drawing small sketches of cats to sell. He sold over 160 paintings in the first month and after expanding his work to ceramic plates, the business provided his family with a steady income for the next five years.
Dang, who was born in the central province of Quang Tri in 1921, immigrated to Paris in 1939. He joined resistance forces to fight fascism in France but was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war.
After the war, he studied at the Toulouse Arts Institute and became famous across Europe.
He held his first exhibition in Paris in 1950 and in 1989, he was honoured by the International Institute of Saint-Louis, USA. He was also awarded the Culture and Arts Medal by the French government in 1994. — VNS