When you look amazing bright pictures a young Vietnamese artist named Phan Thu Trang, it seems that they are voluminous, and are made of sticker sheets pasted onto the canvas. But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that this is "oil on canvas" - and a palette knife. With palette knife painting, when the artist applies paint to the canvas not with a brush, but with a small spatula knife, we are already familiar with creativity and its colorful autumn landscapes. The paintings of Phan Thu Trang are just as colorful, except perhaps with a predominance of Vietnamese flavor.

Alas, we do not know much about the work of the young Vietnamese author. The artist was born in Hanoi, graduated from the University of Theater and Cinema, but she connected her future not with the stage and cameras, but with painting. So, at the age of 5, Phan Thu Trang took third place in children's competition drawing, and at the age of 18 she first became a participant in a student exhibition in Hanoi.

Frankly, with what paintings the young artist participated in exhibitions, we do not know. But if we look at the works that are sold in art galleries today, we can say with confidence that the author likes to draw trees most of all. And those by which you can’t tell the time of the year. It seems that the paintings depict early autumn with its riot of colors, but it can also be late summer, or snowy winter...

Multi-colored trees with small figures of their compatriots are Phan Thu Trang's favorite theme, that's a fact. But nevertheless, neither the audience nor the fans of her work complain, buying up colorful canvases for their apartments, galleries, country houses or offices.
For some time now, Phan Thu Trang has been a member of the Vietnam Young Artists Association.

Paintings in Vietnam are, first of all, silk and lacquer works by contemporary artists. However, you can also find more exclusive paintings - from butterfly wings, chicken feathers, eggshells, mother-of-pearl, sand, rice, and so on. About what is painting in Vietnam, where you can buy paintings, and how much they cost, I will tell you in this article.

Fine arts in Vietnam began to develop actively only in late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to this, local painting largely copied Chinese subjects and techniques. Very few samples of such works have survived to our time. These are various landscapes and portraits made with ink or water colors on silk scrolls. Now they can be seen in historical museums, temples and pagodas.

Everything changed in the century before last, when France colonized Vietnam. European trends penetrated into all spheres of the country's culture, including painting. Since then, art schools began to open, many directions appeared.

Today, the visual arts of Vietnam are represented by both traditional oriental motifs for this country, and quite modern, European works. They can be found in art galleries, and at private exhibitions, and in stores.

What paintings can be bought in Vietnam

Quality Vietnamese painting is not for sale on every corner. If you really intend to find unique work, you need to understand what should generally be considered for acquisition.

I advise you to pay attention to the following pictures:

• Silk
• Lacquer

They will surely become a good gift or emphasize your taste, decorating the interior.

In addition, there are more original works made from:

• mother of pearl
• Sand
• shells

I will tell you more about all this in the continuation of the article.

Silk paintings

Made in a unique style, with many details, these masterpieces will be appreciated even by those who are far from art. Silk in embroidery allows you to present any, even the standard plot of the picture in a new, memorable way. Work on the creation of such paintings sometimes takes more than one year, the process itself is very laborious. Therefore the paintings experienced craftsmen are really highly valued.

As for the prices, the run-up here is very large. So, a small silk painting can be bought for 900,000-2,700,000 VND. But we must understand that this is not quite art - the plots of such paintings are typical. This is just an inexpensive souvenir that you can present to friends or colleagues. In addition, there is a possibility that the picture will fade after a while. This suggests that you have a fake in front of you. Real silk does not change its color.

Another thing is large-scale exclusive works made in a single copy. Having hung such a picture at home, you will never hear from your guests a phrase like: “Oh, we have the same one!”. As for prices, they range from 1,000,000 dong to 3,000,000,000 dong.

Lacquer paintings are images made with special paints that change color under the influence of varnish. And here the situation is exactly the same as in the case of silk-screen printing: you can find both very simple works and real masterpieces.

The first option is suitable for those who are looking for an inexpensive gift. Lubok can be distinguished as a separate variety of such paintings. These are a kind of cartoons and caricatures that play on the original Vietnamese comic and everyday scenes. Seasoned with local color, they evoke big interest at tourists. The technology of their manufacture is very interesting. First, a plot is cut out on a wooden surface, then the artist draws an image over the wood with colored paints. It is important to note that these paints are exclusively of natural origin.

You can buy such paintings even in souvenir shops and shops. As for the price, you can find interesting images up to VND 200,000.

But if you're looking for something a little more original, check out art galleries and lacquer factories. There you can buy lacquer paintings at prices ranging from VND 9,000,000 to VND 23,000,000.

Original paintings from natural materials

To create paintings, the Vietnamese use not only paints and varnish - almost all improvised materials are used.

Here are just a few of them:

Nacre

Brilliant, shimmering in the light, shells began to be used for inlay work as early as the 11th century. Today it is one of the traditional genres in Vietnamese painting. Mother-of-pearl is even purchased for this in China, Singapore and some other states of Southeast Asia.

The inlay process itself is very complex and consists of several stages:

1. First, the artist makes a sketch on paper, and then copies it on a wooden base.
2. Next, recesses are cut on the tree into which mother-of-pearl will be placed. At the same stage, it is necessary to correctly select and arrange shells. Different types mother-of-pearl have their own shades, and they must be combined with each other. Shells are cut on special machines, after which they are glued to a wooden surface.
3. But that's not all - the future picture is polished, and then the master manually carves fancy patterns on the shells.

Natural mother-of-pearl is very fragile, and one careless movement can ruin the work. Therefore, before cutting their shells in a special way prepare: first soaked in an alcohol solution, and then subjected to heat.

Usually a lacquered board is used as a base. Since mother-of-pearl looks best on dark background, then the varnish is often selected almost black. From this, the paintings acquire a mystical character. The most popular subjects are sketches from the life of peasants, animals and plants.

The cost of such paintings is quite high and can reach 10,000,000-15,000,000 VND. The specific price largely depends on the type of shells used and the degree of detail. Most expensive paintings can be inlaid with hundreds of thousands of small pieces of mother-of-pearl. However, often much simpler things are sold in souvenir shops, without much elaboration. Their cost varies between 300,000-800,000 dong.

If you want to find real masterpieces, you need to go to the Chuyên Mỹ community, which is 40 kilometers south of Hanoi. Here, locals have been engaged in inlay work since ancient times. Their works are sold not only in Vietnam, but also in European countries, in Russia and the USA.

Sand

It's quite the new kind art for Vietnam, was invented by a local self-taught artist Tran Thi Hoang Lan (Trần Thị Hoàng Lan), better known under the pseudonym I Lan (Ý Lan). Since the early 2000s, sand paintings have gained immense popularity far beyond the borders of the country, and Yi Lan opened her own company - Ý Lan Sand Painting CO., LTD.

The essence of the technique lies in the fact that between two vertically arranged glasses, sand of different shades is poured in a certain order (there are more than 80 in total). It would seem that there is nothing special about this, but in fact such work is incredibly complex and painstaking. After all, even portraits of people are depicted in sand paintings. If you fill up the grains of sand incorrectly, you will have to start all over again.

It is noteworthy that the first paintings of Yi Lang were fairly simple three-color images. Today, the artist's collection of works includes images of animals, portraits of famous politicians, even logos of major brands. Everything is done with such naturalism that it is difficult to distinguish a sandy painting from a photograph.

Yi Lan's workshop is located in Ho Chi Minh City, all works are made to order, and prices are negotiated separately with each client. Of course, there are many imitators who try to copy this technique. Their works are sold in souvenir shops for prices ranging from VND 150,000 to VND 250,000. But the level of detail is completely different.

Often the masterpieces of the famous artist are confused with more primitive "sand paintings". We are talking about ordinary images (on canvas or wood), which are simply encrusted with fine grains of sand. Such things can be found in any market, they are quite cheap (100,000-500,000 VND).

Rice

Rice paintings are also a fairly young technique. The grains of this plant have different shades, depending on the variety. So, rice is gray, white, cream, yellow, brown, red and even black. In addition, additional tones can be achieved by roasting the beans. And finally, there is round, medium and long grain rice. All this allows you to lay out a variety of drawings from it.

Starting work, the artist puts a sketch of the future picture on a piece of plywood. Then, with the help of special colorless glue and tweezers, rice grains are glued to this sketch. This activity requires a lot of perseverance and attention. Rice grains should be even and whole. Usually the laying out of grains takes from several days to several weeks. At the end, the painting is exposed to the sun, where it dries.

The plots of such works can be very different. But most often, artists depict traditional Vietnamese landscapes, animals or birds. There are also portraits - moreover, very detailed ones.

As for prices, they directly depend on the size of the picture and image. So, miniature landscapes (20x20 cm), on which there are not very many objects, can be bought for 600,000-700,000 dong. If the picture is large, detailed, and even custom-made, then it can cost several million dong. Rice paintings are sold both in the markets and in souvenir shops. But there you can only choose something from the already finished works. And if you need a picture to order, then you should contact the master directly.

Shell

Ordinary eggshell white and ocher. Is it possible to create a real picture out of it? It turns out - yes. All you need is patience, accuracy and a lot of time.

The basis for future work is wood or plywood. It is covered with black paint - it is against this background that the eggshell looks most impressive. Then they begin to lay out the drawing. And here, unlike rice paintings, the master has much more opportunities. It can break up the shell into particles of different sizes in order to most accurately reproduce the details of objects. Lighter areas are laid out with a white shell, for others, ocher is used. The darkest elements of the picture are not laid out at all - there is a black background for this. At the final stage, the painting is covered with several layers of varnish (there may be more than 10) and polished.

In other words, shell paintings are a well-known mosaic. They are sold everywhere and cost about the same as rice.

In addition, there are more original works made from chicken feathers, butterfly wings, various herbs and plants ... Most of them can only be found in certain cities or villages, besides, this is an art for an amateur.

Walking through the streets of Vietnamese cities, you will meet everywhere art galleries, exhibitions, and just souvenir shops selling the creations of artists. But one must understand that here, as in any other country, there are real works of art, and copies, and even fakes.

In order not to bring a picture printed on a printer with you from Vietnam, you should pay attention to the following points:

• Do not buy paintings in markets and shops that do not specialize in painting. Most likely, you will not get an object of art, but an ordinary trinket, and even pay exorbitant prices.
• Be prepared to pay a decent amount for even a small job. The paintings belong to the category of exclusive goods, so their prices are quite high.
• When buying silk and lacquer paintings, I advise you to ask the seller for a certificate. It must state that the item you purchased is not an antique or piece of art. The fact is that their export outside the country is prohibited.

As you can see, the pictures in Vietnam are quite diverse. The price range is also very wide. I hope that this article will help you understand the local art and find something to your liking.

The ancient and original art of Vietnam has evolved over many centuries. The talented people of this country have created many wonderful monuments of artistic creativity.

Formation modern painting took place in difficult conditions and is characterized by a number of features. Its source was classical art Middle Ages, but by the beginning of the 20th century it no longer met the new requirements and ideals. The colonization of the country by France clearly affected its development, as a result of which various elements penetrated into Vietnam. European culture. During this period, a rethinking of the medieval heritage took place, due to acquaintance with the best picturesque examples of Europe.
An important role was played by the opening in 1924 of the Higher School fine arts Indochina in Hanoi. The main emphasis in it was on teaching the basics of European painting, but the old art was also studied. It was in the appeal to national origins that the progressive significance of this educational institution. Many artists studied there, aiming to revive the ancient original art. Thanks to their efforts, ancient silk painting regains its importance, and a new lacquer technique is being developed. It is these species that are currently of the greatest interest.

Suman, Hoan Van Thuan. Varnish. 1982. Rice cleaning. Lacquer engraving. 1981. 67 X 48.

Painting on silk has been known since the early Middle Ages. Old masters wrote on long horizontal and vertical strips of silk or soft rice paper, to which wooden rollers were attached along the edges. Water-based mineral and vegetable paints were used. The finished product was inserted into a frame of patterned silk. The rebirth of this ancient art form is associated with the name of the outstanding Vietnamese artist Nguyen Phan Tian, ​​whose paintings were a great success at the 1931 International Exhibition in Paris. For his clothes, Nguyen Fan Tian chose thin, translucent silk, worked with ink and watercolor. The charm of his work was so great that many of his fellow artists followed the example of the master.
The successes of easel lacquer technology were not very significant at first. Artists in the 1920s and 1930s took only the first steps in mastering it. But decorative lacquer paintings have been known in Vietnam since the 2nd millennium AD. The lacquer was obtained from the sap of shea and cham trees, defended for several months in a dark room. Its uppermost layer was used to prepare the best quality black lacquer, the second layer was used for mixing with dyes, the lacquer resin was used for the primary processing of products. The palette of the old masters consisted of only a few colors - gold, black, brown, red, since other dyes darken when mixed with varnish. Colored compositions covered the wooden parts architectural structures, temple sculptures, furniture, screens, decorative boxes, vases. The use of varnish in easel painting required a change in technology and color palette.

Nguyen Lyon Tsu Bak. Road to Zhao Shan village. Silk, watercolor. 1982. 58 X 76.

After the victory of the August Revolution of 1945, national art received a new impetus. The process of its formation was successful, despite the wars with the French colonialists, the American aggressors. During this difficult period for the country, progressive Vietnamese artists put their talent at the service of the people. Together with the fighters of the People's Army, they made long marches and took part in battles. Their sketches, drawings glorified the exploits of soldiers and partisans, the labor achievements of the peasants. Cultural life did not freeze. In 1948, two studios of lacquer painting began to operate in the northern mountainous region of Vietbac, where, along with teaching students, painting techniques were improved. In 1950, a art school, whose director was famous painter That Ngoc Wan.
During the years of the armistice (1954-1965), the artists of North Vietnam had ample opportunities for creativity. Art institutes are reopening in Hanoi, a number of exhibitions are being organized both domestically and abroad. They are evidence of the successful development of a new national art, especially easel painting.
How was the work on the piece going? The base is prepared first. For her, they take a dry, light tree, sometimes pressed plywood. On the board, pasted over on all sides with cotton fabric to protect against cracks, several layers of soil are applied from a specially prepared composition, which includes kaolin, small sawdust and raw varnish. Each layer is dried and carefully polished with pumice.
After applying the primer, the board is covered with several layers of black or brown varnish, each of which is also polished. Then a preliminary drawing is applied, then the master begins to work with varnish paints - corrections here are almost impossible. The surface of the painting is polished first with rice straw and finally by hand. By the 1960s, the color palette of easel paintings had expanded. White, blue, pink, purple, various shades green.

NguyenVanTi. Fishermen at the mouth of the Han and Khoy rivers. Varnish. 1982. 125 X 190.

The painting of Vietnam reached its real flourishing after the unification of the country. Artists from the North and the South were given the opportunity to work together. Over the past years in art institutes and schools of the country brought up a galaxy of young talents. The oldest masters continue to work successfully.
One of them is Chan Van Kang, an honorary academician of the Academy of Arts of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He studied in the 1930s high school fine arts. Worked in various techniques, but most clearly his talent manifested itself in oil and varnish painting. Chan Wan Kang is always faithful to his inherent painting style, in which the "free brush" is combined with the use of gold and silver powder. He was among the first to use this material. Gold powder, topped with a transparent brown lacquer, gave the most beautiful color effects. One of recent works artist - "Thu Kieu and Kim Chong" - was created based on the famous poem by the medieval poet Nguyen Du "The Lamentations of a Tortured Soul", which tells about the severe trials that befell lovers. On a black background, a jerky line outlines the figures of a young man and a girl playing the nguete - national musical instrument. Chan Wan Kang perfectly uses the mysterious shimmer of gold on a black lacquer background to convey a sense of inner tension, anxiety:
... I tuned the lute to be true
There were four melodious, restless strings...
Smooth sounds - the breath of the earth,
the whistle of the wind and the hubbub of the cicadas.
Rapid sounds like rain
like a whirlwind waterfall.
The flame flickers in the lamp. Garden
embraced by a strange languor; and that
Who listened so passionately
looking into the darkness around
I want to cry and sing myself.
Otherwise, other masters use gold powder - Nguyen Van Ti and Nguyen Van Binh. In the painting “Fishermen at the Mouth of the Han and Hoi Rivers,” Nguyen Van Ti depicted the return of fishermen from a successful fishing trip. On the foreground they are busy mending their nets, followed by a group of men carrying wet tackle to dry. In the background, on the blue-green expanse of the sea, many boats with unfolded sails. They are clearly drawn against the red background of the sky. To effectively highlight the silhouette of the sails, the master uses an unusual technique - he sticks pieces of fabric on the surface of the picture, and then covers them with thin sheets of yellow foil. The bright beauty of the landscape, the radiance of sparkles help the artist convey the mood of festivity.

Quang Tho. Old militia. Varnish. 1984. 90 X 120.

In the painting “Landscape in Khao Binh Province”, Nguyen Van Binh depicted a small village among flowering trees. The work is distinguished by its coloristic sonority - red earth, brownish-yellow bamboo trunks, the silhouette of blue-green mountains. The artist uses gold powder to convey the glow of the sky, thicker sheets of foil emphasize the clear graphic nature of the trees. Another means of expression was eggshell inlay. She is filled with the clothes of peasant women, the figure of a horse. Shallow recesses are cut out in the varnish, pieces of the shell are placed in them, which are fixed with a hammer. At the same time, a network of picturesque cracks forms on the eggshell. For the first time this technique began to be used in the 30-40s.
The artist Kuang Tho also works with this material. The background for his painting "Old Militiaman" is made using the inner and outer surfaces of the shell, which have different shades of white. On this conditional, mosaic-like background, the figures of an old man with a machine gun and girls are highlighted. The laconism of the compositional construction, the dark, disturbing coloring of the picture reveal its main idea - the determination of the Vietnamese people to defend their independence.
Along with painting with lacquer paints of large
traditional lacquer engraving has achieved success. Old masters used it to create decorative items. Modern artists perform easel paintings in this way. The background is usually lacquer, where a pattern is cut out, filled with tempera or lacquer paints. In the technique of engraving on lacquer, Su Man, Hoan Van Thuan, Nguyen Ngia Duen work a lot and fruitfully. Their work is characterized by increased decorativeness. The main means of expression is the contrast between shiny varnish and matte, colored surfaces. In Nguyen Ngia Duyen's Ho Chi Minh and the Pioneers, the cool lacquer sheen is enhanced by the use of warm pinks, reds and purples.

DangQuiHoa. The Hook Bridge. Silk, Watercolor. 1982. 45 X 60.

Painting on silk remains the most refined type of national art. True, some craftsmen adhere to classical techniques and use natural silk soaked in a special rice water, which prevents the colors from flowing freely. Others write on artificial silk, which is not subjected to special processing. European watercolor paints, much less often - mineral and vegetable. To obtain the effect of blurring colors, they also write on wet silk.
Many older artists prefer traditional writing. Nang Hien is one of them. This master, who did not receive an art education, is distinguished by an exquisite painting style. He carefully works with the texture, paints so thinly that the silvery basis of silk shines through them. He writes with local color planes, outlining them with an expressive line. Adhering to the traditions of classical painting, Nang Hien often decorates his paintings with patterned silk. A large place in his work is occupied by portraits of girls of various nationalities of Vietnam.
In painting on silk, the influence of the founder of this type of art, Nguyen Phan Tian, ​​is still noticeable. Here, for example, is Huynh Phuong Dong's painting "Partisan from the Kuti District." She seems to continue the portrait gallery female images started by an older brother.

Nang Hien. Ziao girl. Silk, watercolor. 1980. 40 X 60.

High civic consciousness is characteristic of many works by Vietnamese masters who create works dedicated to the heroic past of their country, the theme of peaceful life. Pham Thanh Liem, in The Steel Mill Militias, writes of a group of young people heading to their work shift with weapons on their backs. Dang Kui Hoa in the painting "The Hook Bridge" depicts a favorite place for Hanoi people to walk - a bridge on the Lake of the Returned Sword in the center of the capital. This work is connected with the heroic past of the Vietnamese people. Outlining the silhouette of an ancient pagoda in the background, the master, as it were, throws a bridge into the past, reminiscent of a medieval legend associated with the Lake of the Returned Sword. Tradition tells that in ancient times the country was attacked by hordes of enemies. The liberation struggle was led by the fisherman Le Loy. Once, when he was sitting in thought on the shore of the lake, a turtle swam out of its depths and handed him a magic sword. Le Loy led his brave army into battle and won a decisive victory, driving the invaders out of the country. And the amazing blade was returned to the turtle, which is what the modern name of the lake reminds of.
Modern artists with amazing skill convey in painting on silk the lush flowering of trees, delicate flower petals, rice fields covered with emerald greenery. Painters are concerned about life in all its manifestations. Here the peasants rush to the market in the morning, busy planting the peasant woman's rice. The tonal transitions of transparent watercolor seem to dissolve people and objects in a light-air environment.
Vietnamese painting of our days, marked by high artistic merit, demonstrates a lively and close connection with the life of the people, successfully develops best traditions ancient national art.

Dang Can is a wonderful artist from Vietnam.

Gorgeous

Beauty ... She is like snow,

If you touch it, it seems hot.

Beauty is like fire - cold

It pierces as soon as you touch it.

Don't you want to drink? Look -

And you will feel thirsty like deserts

wanderer.

And hunger will torment the well-fed, if

He will see the beauty by chance ...

And the one who wants to die before the time,

Awakened to life again, seeing her.



O! It's just a dream of beauty

Soaring forever in the sky before us.

Translation by A. Nikulina

Dang Can is a wonderful artist from Vietnam. The full name of the author of colorful and positive paintings is Dang van Can. Born in 1957. Became interested in painting early childhood. The talent of the artist woke up quite early and already in youth he amazed everyone around him with his abilities. At the age of 19, Dang Can became the main illustrator for local magazines and newspapers. His works were so piercing, clear, understandable, colorful and joyful that the name young artist soon became very famous in Vietnam, and then outside the country. Currently, his paintings are in the collections of connoisseurs. professional art in many countries of the world.

The work of the Vietnamese artist Dang Can is a true love for one's homeland. The author of those paintings that you can see below can be safely called one of the national artists. Like Levitan or Shishkin, who made Russian landscapes famous all over the world with their ingenious art, Dang Can tries to express all the unbridled beauty of exotic Vietnam through his original art. His landscapes and genre scenes are always kind and as positive as possible. It depicts views of small villages that are lost in the forests of Vietnam, fishermen and ordinary inhabitants of remote settlements. Such Vietnam is not seen by an ordinary tourist. This is Vietnam through the eyes of a native. The artist, with the help of his painting, depicts not only beautiful landscapes and scenes from peaceful life, but the real soul of the country, its essence, traditions and foundations.

The art of this artist is remarkable not only for its design, kindness and sincerity. The technique of creating paintings is also interesting. Dang Can follows traditional Vietnamese painting techniques and also uses its own own equipment, which allows him to create truly interesting and fascinating plots of paintings. You can even say that the paintings of this author are a kind of Vietnamese impressionism. The main attention here is paid not to details and precise drawing, but to the expression of mood, which is literally in the air.

Traditional painting in Vietnam

Vietnamese traditional painting can be divided into several types: these are portraits, landscapes, genre and religious paintings. Pictures were painted on silk or rice paper with water-based paints and ink.

portraits

Picturesque portraits, like sculptural ones, were created from memory or from descriptions and memories. A small number of portraits of emperors, dignitaries, representatives of the nobility have been preserved in pagodas, funerary temples royal families and family tombs of large feudal lords. The oldest among the works of this kind are the portrait of Nguyen Chai dating back to the 15th century, the portrait of the scholar Fung Khak Khoan (17th century), the portraits of two princes Nguyen Quy Duc and Nguyen Quy Kan (mid-18th century). The artist carefully drew facial features, clothing details, based on descriptions of relatives or his own memories, so the external resemblance was very approximate. New trends in the portrait genre, which only later (in the work of Vietnamese artists of the 30s of the XX century) will manifest themselves to a greater extent, were first reflected in the works of the artist Le Van Mien.

landscapes

One of the favorite types of painting among Vietnamese artists has traditionally been a landscape that glorifies the beauty of native nature. The silk scrolls that have come down to us (XVIII-XIX centuries) are a series of landscapes executed in the traditional Chinese manner, observing the principles of stage construction of space and subtle color nuances. The most common feature Vietnamese landscape painting is that the image of nature is perceived as idealized, abstract and expresses the mood of the artist more than the surrounding reality. In the future, especially from the beginning of the 20th century, as one became familiar with European painting landscape painting undergoes significant changes.

Genre paintings

The plots of works of this kind were very limited and the paintings were mainly decorative. The main characters in addition to natural elements, in works of art of that time, there are people: "a scientist, a peasant, an artisan, a respectable old man, a fisherman, a woodcutter, a plowman, a shepherd." A classic example of such genre painting- the picture "A fisherman busy catching fish." Vietnamese painting of this period is characterized by a static, two-dimensional image.

Pictures of cult content

Religious paintings were also painted with water colors on silk, rice paper or wood. They are distinguished by a fine and painstaking technique of writing, exceptionally carefully drawn out the smallest details of clothing and furnishings. This, in particular, can be explained by the fact that it was certain clothes and various attributes that helped to navigate the complex hierarchy of cult characters. In addition, each master sought to emphasize the highly valued meticulousness of execution, the subtlety of the drawing and the elegance of the brushstroke.

Lubok - folk painting

Special place in fine arts Vietnam is occupied by popular prints. The Vietnamese folk painting is a variant of the Russian lubok. The picture is minted on a wooden board (cliche), then painted, and finally printed on a special fibrous paper "kei zo". Paints were made from ashes from the burning of bamboo leaves, straw (black color), bark of the tree dyp ( White color), yellow stone (red color), sophora flowers ( yellow), indigo socks (light blue), copper rust (green). hallmark The Dongho lubok was a colored background, obtained by adding a decoction of glutinous rice mixed with powder of crushed sea shells to the dye. This kind of coating made the paper more durable, and mother-of-pearl powder gave picture lung flicker. The so-called Hanoi luboks are long pictorial scrolls. Traditionally, hieroglyphs and drawings were applied to the scrolls. Usually the Vietnamese created cycles of paintings: "Four Seasons", "Flowers and Birds", "Journey to the West". Sometimes several interconnected drawings were depicted at once in one picture (“Twenty-Four Examples of Sons of Piety”).

Luboks were usually made for various holidays, but mainly for the New Year (according to the lunar calendar) Tet holiday, which is both the spring and the main holiday of the year. There is a significant difference between popular prints created before the French conquest and after, when paper of a different quality and format and new colors became widespread. The name of the master was never affixed to the early luboks, and only starting from the 20th century. we know the names of the most famous masters: Nguyen Thé Thuk, Vuong Ngoc Long, Thuong Manh Tung, and others. As a rule, whole families were engaged in this trade and passed on their skills from generation to generation. Among the plots of popular prints are various wishes on the occasion of Tet, traditionally expressed with the help of images of various flowers, fruits, animals, objects symbolizing prosperity, numerous virtues: peach - longevity, pomegranate - numerous offspring, peacock - peace and prosperity, pig - abundance and etc. In addition, popular prints were edifying, historical, religious (depicting the Buddha and body-satvas, various spirits), prints depicting landscapes, four seasons.

The laconic and expressive style of popular popular prints, their special figurative structure, their inherent optimism and peculiar humor, undoubtedly became an expression of certain features. national character. And already in the first decades of the 20th century, when interest in the study of their own artistic traditions arose, folk luboks were rightfully given a worthy place in the national heritage.

Lacquer painting

Europe learned about the extraordinary Vietnamese lacquer painting in 1931, when visitors world exhibition in Paris, they saw the work of students and graduates of the Higher School of Fine Arts of Indochina. For many centuries, the sap of the lacquer tree, which grows everywhere in Vietnam, has been used as a material for creating works of this type of painting. Lacquer screens, vases, trays, caskets and other items were covered with a shiny lacquer layer. The color scheme of the varnish was limited to black, red and brown flowers, therefore, gold and silver powders, mother-of-pearl and eggshell inlay, engraving were used as decorative additions. Artists-painters who studied at the Higher School of Fine Arts in the twenties laid the foundation for attempts to transfer the charm of lacquer painting to easel painting. And limiting the color possibilities of the varnish was one of the most difficult obstacles. However, little by little this problem was solved. Blue, yellow, green shades appeared in the palette, and combinations of dyes enriched lacquer painting with purple, lilac, pink, and scarlet colors. Nevertheless, the technology of lacquer painting still remains very laborious.

Vietnamese art historians believe that the desire of artists to prove themselves in the creation of easel lacquer painting was only possible after the August Revolution of 1945. The patriotic folk artists reflected in their work the new socialist reality. Among the first experimenters who worked with lacquer paints was Chan Wan Kang, now famous artist both oil and lacquer painting. His early paintings, executed with lacquer paints, were successful at the Hanoi Exhibition of 1935. Being a great master of European technology oil painting, Chan Van Kang in his lacquer works showed himself as a deeply national artist. At the 1958 exhibition in Hanoi, lacquer painting first made itself known as a new emerging art form.

Consistent realist and subtle lyricist Fang Ke An builds his painting "Memories of an evening in northwestern Vietnam" (1955) on a contrasting combination of translucent blue-green tones with light yellow opaque gilding. This painting is significant in conception and romantic in execution. Against the background of the mountains flooded with the evening sun, a chain of soldiers in blue uniforms clearly stands out, descending from the pass to the bottom of the mountain gorge. They walk towards the sun, catching its last rays before leaving into the darkness of the night. Three primary colors yellow, blue, green (not counting a small amount of black lacquer) convey the richness of the artist's emotional intention due to the special play of textures and different depths of the reflected color.

The golden glow of a dark lacquer surface manifested itself most organically in the composition of one of the strongest masters of lacquer painting Le Quoc Lok “Through a Familiar Village” (the painting was shown in Moscow at international exhibition fine arts of the socialist countries in 1958). The painting “Night Camping” by artist Nguyen Hiem demonstrates the possibilities of lacquer painting in creating a sense of mystery and romance. The use of inlay to enhance the decorative effect can be seen in Nguyen Kim Dong's "Ceramic Craft" (1958), depicting two potters at work. The alternation of wide planes of eggshell inlay (the white wall of the oven and the white clothes of the potters) with the simplest color silhouettes makes the composition so generalized that the picture looks almost like a mosaic or relief.

A description of Vietnamese lacquer painting would be incomplete without mentioning the technique of carved (engraved) lacquer, which was especially popular among masters of the 1920s and 1930s. It is usually used to create decorative panels, screens and other interior details. This technique is still used today. On a black or red background of the lacquer coating, a pattern is cut out (to the very ground), which is filled with various dyes. An example is Guin Van Thuan's painting Vinhmok Village. The crisp engraving, highlighted with delicate light tones, creates a sharp contrast against the shiny and smooth black background. The composition of the picture with a high horizon allows you to expand the whole panorama of the life of the fishing village.

The increased decorativeness of the texture of lacquer paints, which allows inlay with other materials, gives this painting a special expressiveness. Vietnamese lacquer painting has gone from decorative paintings to easel thematic compositions. All genres and all subjects of oil painting became available to her. Seascape, the image of a military campaign in the jungle, a picture of a coal mine, a village scene, an image of a steel plant or a pig farm, even a still life and a portrait. Painting, which took shape in harsh years war, reflecting the popular dream of happiness and peace, lives and develops in today's socialist Vietnam as an aesthetic expression of the lofty human spirit.

Vietnamese visual art has always included material as an integral element of the beauty of the work. It is no coincidence that in the traditional Vietnamese fine arts, the profession of a craftsman-master was especially developed and each master was a specialist in his field: there were masters in the manufacture of lacquer products, mother-of-pearl products, masters in the processing of precious metals, pearls, copper, wood, silk.

Painting with water colors on silk

Vietnamese artists have created many works of art based on silk. Among the successful masters working with silk and brightly reflecting real life, it is worth noting: Chan Van Kang "Child reads to mother" (1954); Nguyen Fan Chan "A Girl Washes", "After the Fight", "Child Care" (1962, 1970), "Drink Tea" (1967); Nguyen Chong Kiem "Visit" (1958); Nguyen Van De "Summer Afternoon"; Fan Hong "Walking in the rain" (1958); Nguyen Van Trung Moonlight on the Sand (1976); Chan Dong Lyon "Working Party Girls" (1958); Ta Thuk Bin "Rice Harvesting" (1960); Nguyen Thi Hang "Vietnamese Daughters" (1963); Wu Giang Hyon "Fish" (1960); Nguyen Thu "Visit to the Village" (1970), "Rain" (1972), "Weaving" (1977); Kim Bak "Fruits of the Motherland", etc.

The innovation lay in the fact that they conveyed real life with the help of generalized methods embodied on silk. Artists have deeply and successfully explored the theme of productive labor. The most striking works of this period belong to Nguyen Phan Chan: he creates in his works a new spiritual life, depicts happy women, children, families in the days of peace, etc. In the work “Portrait of Cy Dong Ty” (1962), Nguyen Phan Tran shows beauty female body on soft silk, demonstrating his deep research in art.Another master of this trend in painting is Nguyen Hu (b. 1930). He conveys in his work the transparency of the mountain air, the expanse and space of his native country. Nature and man are the main characters his paintings. Nguyen Hu made a significant contribution to the development modern technology silk graphics.