A Brief History on Contemporary Vietnamese Art
Ripley Auctions proudly presents a curated selection from a lifelong collection of Vietnamese fine art, assembled over years of travel and close relationships with leading Vietnamese galleries and artists.
A Brief History of 20th Century Vietnamese Art
Indochina School of Fine Arts (Trường Mỹ Thuật Đông Dương)
Established in 1925 by French painter Victor Tardieu, the Indochina School of Fine Arts was the first formal art institution in Vietnam. Its goal was to blend Western techniques with traditional Vietnamese art. Initially offering painting and sculpture, the school later added programs in architecture (1926), lacquer (1930), jewelry (1933), ceramics (1934), and woodworking (1938). It played a key role in introducing Vietnamese modern art to the international stage at exhibitions in Rome, Milan, Brussels, and San Francisco during the 1930s.
The school operated until 1945, closing after Vietnam’s independence, but was reopened in 1946 as the Hanoi College of Fine Arts, which continues to this day. Over its 20-year history, the school trained 128 artists, many of whom became icons of Vietnamese modern art:
Bui Xuan Phai
Le Pho
Mai Trung Thu
Nguyen Gia Tri
Nguyen Phan Chanh
Nguyen Tu Nghiem
Nguyen Sang
To Ngoc Van
Nguyen Tien Chung
Vu Cao Dam
Tran Van Can
Profiles of Key Vietnamese Artists
Nguyen Phan Chanh (1892–1984) refined traditional Chinese silk painting by using subdued tones and soft contours, evoking a quiet, spiritual atmosphere rooted in rural Vietnamese life.
Notable Works: “Chơi ô ăn quan” (1931), “Bữa cơm ngày mùa” (1960)
To Ngoc Van (1906–1954) created vibrant, expressive paintings combining modern aesthetics with Vietnamese subjects.
Famous Works: “Trưa Hè” (1943), “Thiếu nữ và hoa sen” (1943), “Thiếu nữ và hoa huệ” (1943)
Mai Trung Thu (1906–1980) specialized in silk paintings of women, children, and daily life, deeply influenced by folk art and Oriental styles.
Selected Works: “Reunion” (n.d.), “Lady from Hue” (1934)
Le Van De (1906–1966), a member of the first graduating class of the Indochina School, later studied in Paris and became known internationally for his silk paintings. He also served as director of the Gia Dinh School of Fine Arts in the 1950s and '60s.
Nguyen Gia Tri (1908–1993), a pioneering lacquer painter, is celebrated for his philosophical approach and refined aesthetic.
Tran Van Can (1910–1994), known for his work in oils, lacquer, and silk, brought a lyrical realism to Vietnamese art and was also active in arts education and public affairs.
Le Thi Luu (1911–1988) developed a soft, classical silk painting style, focusing on women and children.
3 Vietnamese works featured in our Great Estates LIVE! Antique to Modern Art & Design Auction:
Lot 76, Tran Cong Dung, Vietnamese (b.1969), One Night Stand, 2005, GIANT large scale woodcut, rice paper on linen
Tran Cong Dung Artist Statement
I am currently living and working in Hanoi. I started to find ways to express my favorite themes by wood-block paintings. The themes in my works are generated from common things and phenomena around me, or stories about daily lives. The nuance of the bicycles or the doors and the stories behind these things are great sources of inspiration to me to express my thoughts through the brushwork. I hope that the viewers can take the humorous and a bit critical view of things which need to be changed for a better life. I am trying to show a variety of interesting and non-repetitive, unique, diverse art language, so I have tried a lot of different materials and genres to effectively convey my ideas and philosophy including lacquer, wood carving, wood sculpture, ceramic sculpture, etc.
Lot 91, Mai Duy Minh, Vietnamese (b.1976), Spirit Bags, 2001, oil on canvas
Mai Duy Minh Artist Statement
Mai Duy Minh (born in 1976) had two solo exhibitions in Hanoi and the second one, Dust of Life, organized by the Goethe Institute, was said remarkable in his art life. In that exhibition, Mr Xavier Augustin, the director of the Institute, said: "Does not follow contemporary art alternatives, Mai Duy Minh is the unique which is worthily notable in the younger generation of artists in Hanoi." Continuing the style of harmonizing the realistic and surrealistic school in the last solo exhibition, Mai Duy Minh introduces the biggest painting in his art life. Despite these cataclysmic scenes, Minh is cheerful and outgoing. He can be intense but laughs easily, especially at himself. Born in Haiphong in 1976 as a child Minh drew obsessively although his parents did not have the means to send him to art classes. At home while his parents worked, he drew with chalk on every blank space he could find around the house, sometimes using, as he does today, an entire wall. "When I was a kid, every autumn moon festival, I made fish lanterns for the kids in my neighbourhood," he says. "It would make me happy to see them all laughing, excited, playing with my creations." With no art background and no connection to the art community, his several attempts to get into Hanoi University of Fine Arts, like many other exceptional contemporary Vietnamese artists, ended in failure. "I persevered because I needed to learn the rules in order to break them," he said. He eventually got in and graduated in 1999 and now paints full time. Although he now lives and works in a studio near Tay Ho (West Lake) district of Ha Noi, he paints almost exclusively about Haiphong and his old neighbourhood, whether it's catastrophic or a domestic scene. In Cyclo Family using dark thick colours, the artist captures the moment at the end of the day when the father, a cyclo driver, hands the money he has earned to the mother, baby on her hip, in a squalid neighborhood. This is what hard work can do to ordinary lives, killing hope, smothering dreams of beauty and joy. One of his most arresting paintings is of Uncle Trung, who is a retired soldier, now a water carrier in a Haiphong market. Uncle Trung, whom Minh considers his moral mentor, gazes from the painting, shoulders stooped from a life of back breaking labour, an incongruous flowered wreath on his head, his hand reaching out either to offer or ask for help. It is evocative of pre-Raphaelite style with rich detail, intense colors, and complex composition reminiscent of Italian and Flemish art. Minh portrays details from every day life, infusing the ordinary with surreal light. He paints broken pots, pans, kettles, furniture but bathed in an incandescence that emits an aura of almost sacred stillness. Although an artist whose vision extends into inner and outer space, Minh has never been on an airplane or left Vietnam. Yet his imagination has soared beyond the limitation of borders. Leaving home he said is like getting lost, letting his imagination wander. He has not travelled much but remembers in detail everywhere he has been and everything he has seen. Mai Duy Minh's art captures the duality of light in darkness, life in death, meaning in the meaningless. The paintings freeze scenes in life expressing the intensity of his feelings behind the cool distance of still life. Minh is the kind of artist whom Buddhist culture regards as not having paid his debt in a previous life and reincarnated to repay it with the art he's currently creating.
Lot 95, Do Hanh, Vietnamese (b.1955), abstract seated figure, 2006, oil on canvas
Do Hanh Biography
Born in 1955 in Hung Yen Province.
Joined the army from 1972 to 1978.
Had been an artist from 1979 to 1986 before attending university.
Graduated from Hanoi Fine Art University in 1991.
Do Hanh is a member of Vietnam Fine Art Association.
Now lives in Hanoi.
1989, 1995, 1996 - Participated in many exhibitions in Hanoi.
1990 - Participated in National Fine Art Exhibition of Vietnam.
1994, 1996 – Private Exhibitions.
2001, 2002, 2003 ,2004, 2005 ,2006 ,2007– In group Exhibitions.