Thirty-five paintings by Nguyen Tu Nghiem never before seen by thepublic are on display at an exhibition at Ngan Pho Gallery in downtownHanoi.
They belong to a collection owned by artist Mai Anh, who fell in love with Nghiem's paintings a long time ago.
The exhibition is only the second of Nghiem's work, following his first show back in 1984.
Nghiem secluded himself from society many years ago, leading many to wonder whether he was still alive.
Theidea for the exhibition came to Mai Anh and her husband, the owners ofNgan Pho Gallery, about one month before the Lunar New Year.
Theyintended to hold the exhibition on the occasion of the New Year andinvite artist Nghiem to appear and talk about his paintings, but Nghiemwas sick and they had to cancel their plans.
"The public hasshown interest in the exhibition, and someone asked me why theexhibition was delayed for a few days," said Mai Anh.
The paintings on display were created from pastels, chalk and pencil from the 1960s to 2014.
"Material is not important to Nghiem. He can use different materials including lacquer, oil and silk," said Mai Anh.
Thepainting entitled De Vang (Golden Goat) is the latest addition to thecollection, and was created back in 2003. The painting was the mostinterested by his family and they didn't want to sell it.
"Lookingat Nghiem's paintings, I feel peaceful and relaxed. The paintings lookpure and innocent, like they are drawn by a five-year old."
CollectingNghiem's paintings has been a labour of love over the last seven years.Mai Anh and her husband wanted to meet him, so they visited his housewith a friend and talked about their interest in buying his paintings.
However,they were turned down by his family because they were unsure abouttheir intentions. However, a few years later, his partner came to meetMai Anh and agreed to sell the paintings.
"Maybe it was becauseshe was found about our work at Ngan Pho Gallery, and realised we weregenuine," said Mai Anh's husband, Le Trung Thanh.
The exhibitionis small but features themes that inspired Nghiem, such as ancientdances, the Vietnamese zodiac animals and Thuy Kieu – Kim Trong, twocharacters from Vietnamese masterpiece The Tale of Kieu.
Nghiem was born in 1922 to a Confucian scholar's family in Nam Dan district in the central province of Nghe An.
Hegraduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts in 1946, where hestudied under Joseph Inguimberty, Nam Son and To Ngoc Van.
Nghiemwent on to join the resistance movement and moved to Viet Bac (northernVietnam) revolutionary base. He was a teacher at the Resistance Schoolof Fine Arts based in Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province in 1950.
Afterthe French were defeated in 1954, he returned to Hanoi and taught atthe Industrial Fine Arts College until 1960, after which he became moresecluded and worked as an independent artist.
He was a member ofthe Vietnam Fire Arts Association from 1957 to 1983. His works aredisplayed at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts and the Moscow State Museumof the East.
In 2013, his lacquer painting Thanh Giong (SaintGiong) was exhibited at Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology andAnthropology in celebration of 40 years of diplomatic relations betweenVietnam and the UK.
He was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize in 1996.
The exhibition will run until Thursday at 82 Hang Gai Street.-VNA
They belong to a collection owned by artist Mai Anh, who fell in love with Nghiem's paintings a long time ago.
The exhibition is only the second of Nghiem's work, following his first show back in 1984.
Nghiem secluded himself from society many years ago, leading many to wonder whether he was still alive.
Theidea for the exhibition came to Mai Anh and her husband, the owners ofNgan Pho Gallery, about one month before the Lunar New Year.
Theyintended to hold the exhibition on the occasion of the New Year andinvite artist Nghiem to appear and talk about his paintings, but Nghiemwas sick and they had to cancel their plans.
"The public hasshown interest in the exhibition, and someone asked me why theexhibition was delayed for a few days," said Mai Anh.
The paintings on display were created from pastels, chalk and pencil from the 1960s to 2014.
"Material is not important to Nghiem. He can use different materials including lacquer, oil and silk," said Mai Anh.
Thepainting entitled De Vang (Golden Goat) is the latest addition to thecollection, and was created back in 2003. The painting was the mostinterested by his family and they didn't want to sell it.
"Lookingat Nghiem's paintings, I feel peaceful and relaxed. The paintings lookpure and innocent, like they are drawn by a five-year old."
CollectingNghiem's paintings has been a labour of love over the last seven years.Mai Anh and her husband wanted to meet him, so they visited his housewith a friend and talked about their interest in buying his paintings.
However,they were turned down by his family because they were unsure abouttheir intentions. However, a few years later, his partner came to meetMai Anh and agreed to sell the paintings.
"Maybe it was becauseshe was found about our work at Ngan Pho Gallery, and realised we weregenuine," said Mai Anh's husband, Le Trung Thanh.
The exhibitionis small but features themes that inspired Nghiem, such as ancientdances, the Vietnamese zodiac animals and Thuy Kieu – Kim Trong, twocharacters from Vietnamese masterpiece The Tale of Kieu.
Nghiem was born in 1922 to a Confucian scholar's family in Nam Dan district in the central province of Nghe An.
Hegraduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts in 1946, where hestudied under Joseph Inguimberty, Nam Son and To Ngoc Van.
Nghiemwent on to join the resistance movement and moved to Viet Bac (northernVietnam) revolutionary base. He was a teacher at the Resistance Schoolof Fine Arts based in Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province in 1950.
Afterthe French were defeated in 1954, he returned to Hanoi and taught atthe Industrial Fine Arts College until 1960, after which he became moresecluded and worked as an independent artist.
He was a member ofthe Vietnam Fire Arts Association from 1957 to 1983. His works aredisplayed at the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts and the Moscow State Museumof the East.
In 2013, his lacquer painting Thanh Giong (SaintGiong) was exhibited at Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology andAnthropology in celebration of 40 years of diplomatic relations betweenVietnam and the UK.
He was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize in 1996.
The exhibition will run until Thursday at 82 Hang Gai Street.-VNA
