Development, Influence, Artistic Style

Vietnamese lacquer painting is a young craft. It only started in the 1930ies under the influence of the “L’Ecole des Beaux Art” in Hanoi, where – influenced by teachers local artists started to experiment with lacquer techniques in their paintings.

The first generation of artists – for example Tran Van Can (1910-1994), Pham Hau (1903-1995), and Nguyen Gia Tri (1909-1993) - was truly innovative. They painted and did research at the same time, mobilizing the know-how of the 2000 year old lacquer heritage of Vietnam, and - step by step - establishing high standards of art and craft in this specific segment of the art market of Vietnam. Unique not only in Vietnam, but unique and unmatched in the world. The art of the first generation was still traditionalist and focused on the beauty of nature. Later on, they were involved in creating art to support the cause of socialist and communist uprising.

The second and third generation of artist are putting lacquer into the context of modernity, displaying people, scenes of life, or – more and more – using abstraction to challenge our minds and fantasies.

Nguyen Dinh Long sticks out in this new generation. He combines the soft, earthly colors, the red and brown tones common – and technically predetermined – in lacquer, with new colors, such as purple, orange, green. He paints scenes of women and men dressed in their traditional costumes, history about Vietnam, landscape, palm trees, water buffalos, boats and water. Yet the way he paints the faces, bodies, posture, has a level of abstraction and distance that expresses the joy and reveals the sadness experienced by the people of Vietnam in their long history and culture.

The two most famous triptychs displayed in our gallery, are among the finest pieces of lacquer art available in the market.

Member of Vietnam Fine Arts Association
Member of Bac Ninh Arts and Literature Association
Member of Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Association

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