Vietnamese culture : Contemporary art - North and South VN
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Viettouch
Minh Bui & Chi D. Nguyen
North VN (1950-1970)
50/60/70's North
After gaining the independence from the French in 1945, Viet
Nam chose to follow a socialist road and went through many
harsh years of ravaged war first against the French and
later the American. The government controlled all branches
of art to fit with the politics of the nation and the
mobilization of the mass during the war years. Painting, as
well as other art media, was created for the single purpose
of promoting patriotic and revolutionary ideals. Art trends
such as nude, abstraction and surrealism were banned or
discouraged from view as they were accused as products of
Western capitalism. Many works produced in this period were
propagandistic in nature and centered on the theme of the
worker-peasant-soldier in a socialist-realism context. Not
until the early 1980's that the country began to move away
from this 'nationalized' position for a broader, more
liberal and individualistic approach to creative arts.
Nguyen Duc Nung (1914-1983) transformed traditional lacquer
painting toward European realism. A noted art researcher and
instructor, he is the editor of several books on the
Vietnamese classical arts Nguyen Do Cung (1912-1977):
Painter and art researcher. Founder of the Fine Art Museum
of Viet Nam in Ha Noi (1966).
Bui Xuan Phai (1921-1988) founded the beauty of old Hanoi
and expressed it with dense, diverse and highly expressive
colors. His portraits are affecting.
Nguyen Tu Nghiem (b. 1922): One of the eminent
representatives of Vietnamese painting of the 20th century.
His paintings successfully combine traditional Vietnamese
themes and motifs with modern lines and sharp angles. His
style had great influence on the younger generation of
artist of the 80 and 90's.
Nguyen Sang (1923-1988) authored monumental compositions
with great ideological vision.
Dang Duc Sinh (b. 1927) painted little but his works were
filled with profound ideas and intense emotion.
Luu Cong Nhan
* South VN (1960-1970)
60/70's South
Follow the partition of the nation in 1954, the art scene in
the South comparatively enjoyed a greater freedom of
creation and expression than one from the North. The artists
of the South were more exposed to the current trends of the
twenty-century Western arts. They had opportunities to learn
and experiment with modern styles such as cubism and
abstraction and many of them later became quite successful
at these forms.
Ta Ty (b. 1920): One of the first abstract painters of Viet
Nam since the early 50s. Trained at the Indochina School of
Fine Arts in the same class with Nguyen Sang and Bui Xuan
Phai. Also an accomplished writer, he worked in the South
Viet Nam Armed Forces. Van Den (1918-1988): Self-taught
oil painter, later had art training in France. Was
instructor at Gia Dinh School of Fine Arts in the 60s and
70s. Van Den's paintings show strong influence of
impressionism with generous use of dark and warm colors. His
popular subjects are the scenery and people of the
countryside. Thai Tuan (b. 1918): Self-taught oil painter.
One of the earliest established and respected artists of the
South. Thai Tuan's painting style is simple with sparse use
of colors and details.
oOo Vietnamese Young Artist Association (Hoi Hoa Si Tre
Viet Nam)
At the height of the Viet Nam War in the late 60's, a group
of young artists in Saigon formed a movement and opened a
new avenue of the contemporary painting scene. The group
consisted of Dinh Cuong, Do Quang Em, Hieu De, Ho Huu Thu,
Nguyen Khai, Nguyen Lam, Nguyen Phuoc, Nguyen Trung, Trinh
Cung and Trang Thi Thin who were newly graduates from the
Gia Dinh and Hue National College of Fine Arts. The young
artists departed from the romanticism and realism of their
elder colleagues and experimented with more abstract style
and avant-garde themes and subjects. The above members of
the Vietnamese Young Artist Association are still active in
their creative art to the present days, both at home and
abroad. They continue to be a source of inspiration and
influence to the newer generation of Vietnamese painters of
the 90s.
Dinh Cuong Trinh Cung (b. 1939): most noted for his
abstract and surrealistic works.
Nguyen Trung (b. 1940) one of today's most prolific artists
of abstract art.
Do Quang Em's (b. 1942) painting style is realistic with
photographic-like use of light and shadow. His still
subjects are inward-looking and melancholic in the tradition
and style of the Orients.
Ho Huu Thu
Nguyen Phuoc
* 80/90's
Since the mid-1980's, with the new government policy of
openness, Vietnamese art has moved into a new phase in which
the artists are allowed to have more freedom of creation and
exhibition . As resulted, artists from Viet Nam in recent
years have become more exploratory and audacious in their
work. Today there is a greater sense of self-confidence and
a remarked level of creativity observed in the Vietnamese
art. The young artists of Viet Nam are actively establishing
their name in the international art world with their
originality and personal statements. But not all of today's
artists are embracing the avant-garde world. There is an
increasingly number of young painters who are trying to
return to their cultural root. They find great sources of
inspiration from the village art and folklore imagery that
surround them. They skillfully blend the native traditions
with modern forms and techniques. They help turn to a new
chapter in contemporary art, one that is very poetic yet
highly expressive and foremost uniquely Vietnamese.
Tran Luu Hau (b. 1928): a painter as well as stage
decorator. His paintings are distinguished for the strong
sense of color and use of decorative characters of modern
art.
Tran Trung Tin (b. 1933): a self-taught painter, formerly a
cinema actor. His works are filled with personal characters
and illness, very expressive and tragic.
Vu Duy Nghia (1935) indivisualized himself in paper
cuttings, illustrations and zinc carvings.
Le Dai Chuc (b. 1944): born in an artistic family, a
self-taught painter. Lived and painted with Bui Xuan Phai in
the early 1980's.
Nguyen Quan (b. 1948): an art critic and instructor at the
Ha Noi College of Fine Arts. One of the earliest painters
that brought modernism into Vietnamese art scene in the
early 80's.
Buu Chi (b. 1948): a self-taught painter noted for his
painting style full of philosophical meditation and formed
in surrealistic composition. Nguyen Thanh Binh's (b. 1954)
paintings are most noted for their composition, especially
the placement of the subject and the use of space. His
simple compositional style brought together with the use of
subdue color rendered his works an air of natural elegance.
Nguyen Xuan Tiep (b. 1956) specializes in oil on paper.
His works focus on Vietnamese traditional themes and
subjects.
Dang Xuan Hoa (b. 1959): one of the most exciting young
painters in today's art scene. His works combine native
motifs and composition with use of rich and vibrant colors.
Le Thanh Son (b. 1962): a graduate in Drama and
Cinematography, he approaches painting with the romantic
eyes of a film maker.
Tran Trong Vu (b. 1964): belongs to the youngest crop of
painters of Viet Nam, with a highly individualistic and
expressive style. Dinh Y Nhi (b. 1967): a young and
promising female artist of modern painting style. Noted for
her powerful and expressive use of black and white in her
work.
Trinh Cong Son (b. 1939) composed over 600 songs, both
crying for the war and the miseries of the nation, has moved
to the world of painters. With his deep memoir and
sensitivity and through years of writing songs, he has
thought so much about the life of the Vietnamese people.
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