Essay

The Pioneer of Vietnamese Modern Art

“Since it was too big, it made sense that he did so, yeah? However, it was his overall vision that matter. It was his that even though there was a sense of balance, like the like of asymmetrical arrangement, had created lines and pattern that created such harmony within the artwork. You see, all the way from the left to the right, the up and down asymmetrically and simultaneously. It is such a joy to look at it”.

He nodded and sat down on the bench

“Do you know who make these masterpieces?”

“Yeah, it is Nguyen Gia Tri, one of the great of Vietnamese’s modern art”.

“It looks like you have been taking whole lots of notes”.

“No, not really, they are just scraps; I barely know anything about arts”

As I was looking up and checking out the national records-breaking lacquer painting on the wall, I was amazed of the size and scope of painting. It was a 108 feet square painting. It certainly had a very bold, strong color combination of red and yellow. It had so many symbolic values such as the traditional Ao Dai, the familiar national color, the familiar vibe of the Tet Holiday. It was called “Spring Garden of Central, South and North” after all. And most importantly, it was one of the leading example that helps shaping Vietnamese’s Modern Art. However, that was all I could figure, as I jotted down on my notes. Suddenly, there was a elderly-looking man approached me. He and his wife roamed around with his DSLR and tried to take some pictures

“Son, are you an art student?”

I immediately replied: “Oh no. I am just writing an article for my assignment, though I might consider a career in journalism.”

“Well, being a photographer might help me pulling out some of the analysis and conceptions… Hmm, for example, do you see the gigantic picture that was split into frames?” He looked at the The Spring Garden of Central, South & North – the biggest piece in the room

“Yeah…”

However, I was not entirely surprised by this, since I had experiences with art class. However, for the modern era of fine arts in Vietnam, this had made a major impact on it. The legendary Nguyen Gia Tri liked other Vietnamese greatest’s artists in modern era. They were all graduated from the Indochina Fine Arts College (IFAC), which was established by the French, during the First Indochina War.

Initially, the establishment of numerous of institutes from the French was an act to maintain their power in Indochina. However, it also helped the Vietnamese people as it also somewhat enlightened them too. At IFAC, the Vietnamese student had a chance to study some of the basic knowledge of fine arts from the West such as the like of drawing with constructivism from the art philosophy of Classicism.

To the world, this was already existed since the Renaissance, yet to the Vietnamese, it was totally unheard-of. Students attended the school was overwhelmed with such a new wave of knowledge

As I was sitting there and tried to swallow the art analysis of the elderly-looking photographer, he broke the silence:

It was his vision on every of his artworks that made him an artist. Son… if you asked me if the French helped us anything in fine arts, it was their ability that turn a craftsman, into an artist. And it happened wonderfully to the great Tri.”

I nodded repeatedly, as he pointed out with such an absolute answer, or at least, I were totally agreed to. On the other hand, the reason he was also considered as a craftsman, was because of the medium of his works: lacquer. Lacquer painting was also started developing, during the time at IFAC. However, the origin of lacquer was from Asia. Lacquer was a type of paint to overlay the ceramics, made it looked splendid. While the like of Japanese had mastered the art of lacquer on ceramics, it was the Vietnamese that invented an additional function for this kind of paint and made it a tradition: using this paint for painting. Lacquer painting required lots of technical skills and patience from a typical craftsman.

Yet, it was only the vision of the artist that could create the intensity of the painting, and particularly, it was the intensity of the powder of the lacquer paint. Lacquer painting, apparently, though might sound like a work of a craftsman, it was the artist and his view towards life that helped him creating such vision on each painting.

“You know, it’s funny…”

I looked back at him, while walking around the exhibit room.

“There were numerous orders and jobs for him to paint. They knew he was great. He could earn lots of money from his painting… Yet… he denied lots of them…”

Nguyen Van Tri was known for his treble hand, from the days he was deported, during the First Indochina War. Yet, it ended up becoming a gift for him, as an artist. Together with his life experience and his vision, he had created numerous of masterpieces and The Spring Garden of Central, South & North was the best of all.

“He just simply said he was either not interested or he was still busy doing other works… Heck, he was never get his works done on time, because he said he was too busy being creative”

In Tri, there was not a single painting that was not without traditional elements. If the medium asserted as a strong traditional element, it was what Tri created on it, made it In The Spring Garden of Central, South and North, it helped him going back in time, back in the moment of joyful and happiness of a typical Tet Holiday, that he used to have. Every single detail, from the sentimental portrayals of the girls in the traditional Ao Dai (Long Garment), to the lovely air of people gathering that blended with the incense of the blossom trees, during the spring time. Tri was also a Vietnamese and growing up, being influenced with traditions was not a surprise. Furthermore, since the Spring Garden was his last work, it made sense for an elder man like him, at that time, had an emotional trip back to the nostalgic past. Yet, the work ended up becoming one of the greatest masterpiece, affirmed him to be one of the greatest in the history of Vietnamese Modern Arts.

This is my quick doodle of the man I had conversations with. I tried to get him to take picture, but he denied me. He simply not would like to. He did not want to appear publicly, in under any circumstances. The reason he had lots of insights of Nguyen Gia Tri was because he claimed he was a nephew of Nguyen Gia Tri. Yet, he lived far away and visiting the museum was the first time he saw his uncle’s works in real life. Besides, he told me that being a photographer and had interests in art certainly helped him understanding the works of his uncle. I respected the man and the only thing I could do was to thank him, to give me such insights for this article.

Going to the Ho Chi Minh Fine Art Museum at half past ten, in a morning, was the least thing could ever happen to me. Yet, it ended up to be a very productive day for me, since I learned more the history of Vietnamese Fine Arts and the great Nguyen Gia Tri, coming from an anonymous elderly-looking photographer. In Nguyen Gia Tri, it was a perfect combination between the traditional past and the modernity. The modern knowledge of the French had built such a solid foundation for these artists. Yet, that was the first 50%. The other 50% would be the traditional values that these artists had grown up and how they deal towards it.

The photographer suddenly asked me a question:

“Have you ever heard the story of him seeing the president of South Vietnam, at the Independence Palace?”

“No, I haven’t. Please, tell me”.

He chuckled “Well… He had an appointment with the president. The president admired his works so much, that he wanted to see him and order one for himself. But, Tri was never shown up, simply because he went to the Palace with extremely ordinary clothes, the “bee-nest” sandals and his bicycle. The guards did not let him in…”

“And we are talking about a guy who dropped the College?”

“Yep, that guy. That guy who painted the masterpiece in front us and ended up being the greatest in Vietnamese’s Modern Art…”

Nguyen Gia Tri

Target Publication

AsiaLife Vietnam

The reason I picked AsiaLife Vietnam was because its articles usually have such a strong narrative. The articles usually had that particular standpoint of the writer, which is fused with the writer’s angle and the experiences the writer had, for the article. I believe my article also has a particular angle and a strong narrative. Thus, AsiaLife Vietnam was a natural choice for my article.

References

123 DOCS. (2014) Danh họa Việt Nam Nguyễn Gia Trí. [Online] Available from: <http://text.123doc.org/document/1236968-danh-hoa-viet-nam-nguyen-gia-tri-doc.htm>

DINH CUONG. 2012. Nguyễn Gia Trí: Người họa sĩ đã nhìn ra khả năng kỳ diệu của sơn mài. VOA. [Online] 22th June. Available from: <http://m.voatiengviet.com/a/nguyen-gia-tri-hoa-si-nhin-ra-kha-nang-ky-dieu-cua-son-mai/1216681.html>

PHAM, QUOC TRUNG. 2012. Vài nét về chủ nghĩa hiện đại trong mỹ thuật Việt Nam .VOA. [Online] 15th December. Available from: http://www.vanhoanghean.com.vn/chuyen-muc-goc-nhin-van-hoa/nhung-goc-nhin-van-hoa/vai-net-ve-chu-nghia-hien-dai-trong-my-thuat-viet-nam

TAYLOR, NORA. 1997. JSTOR. “ORIENTALISM/OCCIDENTALISM: The Founding of the Ecole Des Beaux-arts D'indochine and the Politics of Painting in Colonial Việt Nam, 1925-1945”. Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 11.2: 1–33. Available from: <http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/stable/pdf/40860624.pdf?acceptTC=true>