An Introduction into Vietnamese Art[i]
Chinese dominance for more than 1000 years
China dominated what today is Vietnam for over 1000 years, politically, economically, and culturally. Chinese culture (simplified Chinese: 中国文化pinyin: Zhōngguó wénhuà) is one of the world's oldest cultures, in fact it is not one single culture, but a “melting pot” of different, cultures and cultural traditions. The best way to illustrate this diversity is to look at food: Not less than 60 different and distinct types of cuisines exist in the China of today.
Similarly in arts: it is not ONE Chinese Art, but MULTIPLE origins, traditions, and developments in China’s history that have driven the Chinese Art, as well as the development of art in neighbouring countries, including Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Important components of Chinese culture include ceramics, architecture, music, literature, martial arts, visual arts, and religion. The Chinese have either invented or mastered a large range of art techniques and media, all of which are still practised today: Ceramics, Bronze, Lacquer, Calligraphy, Silk Painting and Woodblock prints and Porcelain.
The French Period
The Chinese influence was dominant, until in the early 17th century the first French catholic missionaries began to arrive in Vietnam. One of the most important was Alexandre de Rhodes. Prior to his arrival, Chinese characters formed the base for written Vietnamese. However, he introduced the adapted Latin script which is common in the country even now.
The French settlers in Indochina had a major influence on Vietnamese life - especially in architecture. In 1883, against strong native protests and revolts, the French overtook the capital city, Hanoi, aiming to turn this city into the capital of their Asian empire, and made many grand constructions in pursuit of this. They destroyed many Asian structures and erected neoclassical French-styled buildings. Ignoring Vietnamese resistance, the French built schools, hospitals, dams, canals and railroads, raising enormous taxes which the Vietnamese could not afford. Economic conditions for the Vietnamese spiralled downward.
In Hanoi, examples of colonial architecture are still very visible today. In the UNESCO World Heritage city of Hoi An, French Architecture is still omnipresent.
But the script and the architecture were only the start of a transforming, often brutal and cruel 20th century, also in Vietnam.
French Indochina was officially formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (which together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia following the Sino-French war (1884–1885). Jean Antoine Ernest Constans became the first Governor-General of French Indochina on 16 November 1887. In the four protectorates, the French formally left the local rulers in power, who were the Emperors of Vietnam, Kings of Cambodia, and Kings of Luang Prabang, but in fact gathered all powers in their hands, the local rulers acting only as heads.
The birth of modern Vietnamese art and particularly painting can be traced back specifically to the French colonial period and to the creation of the l`Ecole des Beaux Arts de l`Indochine in Hanoi in 1925 by Victor Tardieu (a classmate of Matisse). The l’Ecole des Beaux Arts had a profound and lasting impact on modern Vietnamese art, as it trained several hundred of the leading artists in the Western tradition, specifically painting in oil (oil painting is less than a hundred years old in Vietnam), inspired by French artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Gauguin, Soutine and Modigliani. Students` books were mainly in French art and early 20th century art – Fauvism, Cubism, Symbolism, Expressionism and Surrealism. Some of the paintings of those early graduates were exhibited in international fairs and exhibitions such as Rome (1932), Milan (1934), Brussels (1935) and San Francisco (1937). The artists attracted attention and praise from the cities, who called them „The Paris School of Vietnam“.
Art in times of war
The major art school in the south, the Fine Arts College of Saigon was founded in 1954 by the painter Le Van De, in collaboration with other artists trained at the FACI and painters returning from their studies in France. After 1975, the National Fine Arts College of Saigon merged with the National Decorative Arts School of Gia Dinh to become the Fine Arts College of Ho Chi Minh City, now named the Fine Arts University of Ho Chi Minh City. The Hué National School of Fine Arts was founded in the former imperial city of Hué.
After 1945, Vietnamese artists were suffering - like all Vietnamese - from the confusions and deprivations of the multiple wars, which only ended in 1975, after the Peace treaty of Paris in 1973 and the invasion of South Vietnam by troops from the North in 1974/75.
During this time, artists in both, north and south, were drawn into military service and duties, and spend their creativity on “propaganda art”. During the early Communist period, graduates from FACI found employment with the government cultural bureaux – producing work on carefully monitored themes. Artists were limited to producing mainly propagandist works.
In the North, this period is called “Socialist Realism”, focused on motivating soldiers and civilians to support the revolution. In the absence of books about international developments in art, artists often turned to their native folklore for inspiration. Artists also faced a severe shortage of quality materials: paints, brushes, canvas, etc. and had to be very creative to compensate for this shortage.
In the 1960-70s, a group of young artists in Saigon founded the Vietnamese Young Artist`s Association. The group consisted of 10 artists (e.g. Nguyen Trung) all graduates of the Gia Dinh and Hué National College of Fine Arts. They experimented with more abstract styles, avantgarde themes and subject matters.
New era of freedom
But it took until the late 1980ies, before the political and economic liberalization had a freeing impact on the Arts. The government had started to liberalize the economy and the society in 1986, a movement called “Doi Moi” (“New Change”), and artists were given more freedom to explore themes, techniques, and freedom of expressions. Art galleries were started especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, also creating significant international attention, and resulted in an “explosive period of artistic creativity in the 1990s” (Pauline Foo). Young artists start to show a much more international approach due to foreign travel books, international magazines, books, and all forms of art outside Vietnam. Artists became more confident and ambitious, and their art has become more exciting, vibrant and dynamic.
Artists in Vietnam no longer rely on state subsidies, but work independently on exhibiting, selling and promoting their work. Most of the collectors are American, British, French, Italian, from Singapore and Hong Kong.
Vietnamese art still feels very Vietnamese
“The culture of Vietnam is still very Eastern, based on Asian, especially Buddhist values – deference, respect, modesty, propriety and unobtrusiveness. Many elements of Buddhism are incorporated into the work. The positive effect of years of cultural isolation has been that artists have drawn more deeply from their own history and culture, from the daily life of the Vietnamese, from their faith and innate sense of beauty and poetry.”
Even older, established artists, such as Tran Luu Hau, felt like “I have been reborn, regaining my youth through drawing, broadening my scope and drilling deeper on each subject”. (Interview with Pauline Foo).
Until today, with few exceptions, the theme of war and its cruelties is not as omnipresent as one would think. Tran Luu Hau, for example, who has witnessed three wars, avoids the themes of war: “I need to break away from them and explore everyday objects, unrelated to … fire, smoke, bombs, bullets, death and destruction”. But he stresses that without these personal war experiences, he would “not have the inspirations and emotions for his landscapes, still-life, seascapes, and …. Vietnamese women.” (Interview with Pauline Foo)
Many modern Vietnamese artists find their themes and inspirations in nature, or the daily life and culture of their cities and villages. Pham Luam shows the old and modern parts of Hanoi. Bui Van Hoan escapes into the multiple lights and colours of Halong Bay or other rivers and waters. Dang Phuong Viet creates colourful, yet calm presentations of the traditional Buddhist Lotus flowers, a symbol of purity, spiritual awakening, and faithfulness.
Artists like Phuong Quoc Tri have found their master theme in female portraits, in his case using brown, beige, and black oil paint, adding touches of color.
And finally, there is a large group of artists, rejuvenating the old, work intensive tradition of lacquer paintings, probably best represented by Bui Huu Hung, using the eternal theme of the “Royal Ladies” to show his respect for the increasingly important role of women in society.
All these artists are combining Vietnamese traditions and themes with European style and techniques, creating a distinct style and tradition of Vietnamese art.
Vietnamese art is “growing up”
Artists use their freedom to explore new areas, new techniques, and their own distinct styles. At the same time, today’s art scene of Vietnam is much more commercially oriented. Artists try to “multiply success”, sometimes to the extent that a specific genre, style or motive is drawn and available in an inflationary way. In addition, artists and leading galleries have to cope with the issue of copies and replicas. As the Vietnamese art market matures, it will be critical to distinct the “Commercialists” from the “Collectables”. Commercialist paintings thrown into the market by the hundreds, or unique Collectables, one of a kind pieces that will gain in value over the years to come.
Our Focus
Our gallery focuses on leading and well established artists, and a small selection of promising, creative, quality oriented young artists, with distinct styles, traditional (e.g. lacquer) or modern materials and techniques (e.g. oil, acryl). All of these artists and their works, in our view, belong to the “Collectibles” group, and have the potential to gain in both, attention and value for its owners.
We partner with leading galleries in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, aiming to select art that is unique, distinct in style, and has soul. We meticulously trace the history of our paintings with original certificates, as well as establishing direct relations with the artists where ever possible.
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[1] Drawn from multiple publications including „Moving On – Contemporary Vietnamese Art, Volume 5” and the introduction by Terence Rodrigues, an International Art Consultant and Art Historian and “Bui Huu Hung, Recollection – Contemporary Vietnamese Art, Volume 3” published by the Apricot Gallery.