Artist Ngoc Mai's 28 paintings on silk featuring characters of the epic poem Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu) are on display at HCM City's Exhibition House until next Monday. Masterpiece : A painting featuring the character of Kieu, famously portrayed in the Tale of Kieu, one of Viet Nam's literary masterpieces. Truyen Kieu, written by poet Nguyen Du in the Nom script in the early 19th century, is considered the pinnacle of Viet Nam's literary works. It tells the life, trials and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman who, to save her father from prison, sells herself into marriage with a man. Not knowing that he was a pimp, she is forced into prostitution. "I thought of painting Kieu when I was young. I as well as millions of Vietnamese love her and feel pity for her," Mai said. The 60-year-old spent 12 years completing the paintings, many of which depict the lithe Kieu, who looks delicate and melancholic. Images of Kieu clad in four-panel … [Read more...] about Paintings on silk testify to girl’s familial devotion
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Painting presented to Weapons Museum
PANO - The Weapon Museum, under the General Department of Technology, received an oil-painting with a topic of the revolutionary war. The painting, "Between two battles" by painter, Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Kieu Hai, head of Hanoi Capital High Command's Cultural House, depicts the heroic fight of Hanoi troops and civilians over 60 days and nights following the appeal for "National Resistance" to defend the Capital of Hanoi by President Ho Chi Minh issued. This 1.2m x 1.5m painting was completed in a fine-art composing camp of the whole-army, which was organised in Tam Dao in 2010. The Weapons Museum will put this painting on display to educate troops under the General Department of Technology, in particular, and other troops and civilians, in general. Translated by Mai Huong … [Read more...] about Painting presented to Weapons Museum
Award-winning artists exhibit oil paintings
Award-winning artists exhibit oil paintings (12-03-2009) by Vo Le Hong HCM CITY — An exhibition of 27 oil paintings by a group of five veteran painters is on display at the Phuong Mai Art Gallery in HCM City. The painters, who have had numerous domestic and overseas exhibitions, range in age from 55 to 67. The work of one of the painters, La Hon, who has received both national and international awards, is both simple and abstract. "I was at first influenced by Modigliani because I really liked the deep eyes which he painted," he said. "Step by step, I found my own style to express my feelings." Le Thanh, who is also exhibiting his work, won a scholarship to France and in 1962 showed his work Bidding Farewell in the first International Fine Arts Exhibition in Viet Nam. Another artist in the show, Ho Huu Thu, won a silver medal in an international competition in 1960 and a second prize in the National Fine Arts competition. Thu, who is deeply immersed in the Buddhist tradition, … [Read more...] about Award-winning artists exhibit oil paintings
Seeking a brand for Vietnamese paintings
While artworks by painters in some Southeast Asian countries are priced at hundreds of thousands or several millions of USD, Vietnamese paintings sell for considerably less. Famous painter and critic Phan Cam Thuong said Vietnamese paintings hadn’t joined the world art market yet. They are still seen as fine-art handicraft, tourism, copied and tax-dodging paintings. “We don’t have a market for painting and our painters are unprofessional. Professionalism is partly shown through artists’ ability to live by their brushes and register their job as painters for tax purposes,” Phan Cam Thuong observed. In the world, painters who don’t perform tax duties are not seen as professional painters. Vietnam doesn’t have a market for paintings because it doesn’t have a procedure for managing, preserving, assessing and trading paintings up to international standard, he said. “It is a fact that we can’t integrate into the world market … [Read more...] about Seeking a brand for Vietnamese paintings
Folklore painting exhibition to mark Dien Bien Phu victory
On May 4th, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum coordinated with the Dien Bien provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to open an exhibition of Vietnamese traditional folklore paintings to mark the 58th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7). The exhibition brought visitors the feeling of the specific forms of folklore arts, with a diversity of famous folklore paintings of northern provinces and cities, such as Dong Ho paintings from Bac Ninh province, Hang Trong paintings from Hanoi, and religious worship paintings from ethnic minority groups in mountainous areas of Vinh Phuc and Nghe An provinces. Each painting reflects its own strand of national cultural identity. The exhibition will remain open until May 12th. Source: CPV … [Read more...] about Folklore painting exhibition to mark Dien Bien Phu victory