Green thumb: The Smell of July Herbs, an oil on canvas painting by Evgeny Pikhtovnikov, is on display at the Handshake Again painting exhibition at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.

HCM CITY (VNS) — Twelve Russian painters and three Vietnamese painters are showcasing 110 paintings at a joint exhibition called Handshake Again, at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.

Olga Zotova, curator of the exhibition, said, Handshake is the name of the joint art project between Vietnamese and Russian artists, which began in 2012.

Under the project, there have been three joint exhibitions displaying art works by artists from the two countries, which started in Khanh Hoa Province and cities in Russia. Alongside the exhibitions, a series of meetings with local art students have been arranged.

Zotova, who is also the head of the project, said it was the first time well-known painters from Vladivostock and St Petersburg have exhibited their works in HCM City.

Ma Thanh Cao, the museum director, said the exhibits reflect Russian artistic styles as well as the country and its modernity.

The exhibition features 84 paintings by Russian artists and 24 of Vietnamese in an eclectic range of materials and styles and topics.

Evgeny Pikhtovnikov from Vladivostok, brought oil on canvas paintings on nature and landscape of his country. In The Smell of July Herbs, the artist who has visited Viet Nam twice before, depicts a peaceful rural Russian landscape in the countryside in July.

Meanwhile, his wife, Marina, presented oil on canvas paintings expressing her favourite still life subject. Some of her best works include Still Life with White Lilac, and Pancake Week.

The couple were graduates of Far Eastern Institute of Arts in Russia, are members of the Union of Artists of Russia and have had exhibitions in Russia and other countries like Japan, China, and Viet Nam.

The Khanh Hoa Province-based artist, Bui Van Quang, displays works featuring the beauty of Vietnamese women.

He often uses bright colours like red and yellow to highlight his topic, for example in Sac Mau Cao Nguyen (Colours of Highlands Region) which depicts images of ethnic women in their traditional colourful clothes.

Quang is a bachelor of fine arts from the Hue Fine Arts University. His paintings have been showcased in Viet Nam and abroad and have received several prizes from national and international art organisations.

Quang said "During the trip to HCM City, the Russian and Vietnamese artists visited the city's landscapes and held a field trip for creating new works."

He added that after the exhibition in HCM City, they were preparing for an exhibition featuring nearly 40 female Vietnamese and Russian artists in St Petersburg.

The works will be on display until March 30 at the museum at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street in District 1. — VNS