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23 juin 2014

Three vietnamese not­able art­works from the National Gallery Singapore

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Lê Pho, "Harmony in Green: The Two Sisters", 1908, oil on silk, 54 x 45 cm, National Gallery Singapore ©2014 National Gallery Singapore

Traditional silk painting in Vietnam was a literati pursuit among scholars and calligraphers. As Le Pho came from a distinguished family, it was not surprising that he chose to work in this medium while studying at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts de l’Indochine (School of Fine Arts of Indochina) in Hanoi. With the encouragement of his professors, he experimented with Western oil paint on silk cloth. This painting of the two sisters is a prime example of Le Pho’s art where it shows an appealing synthesis of East and Western influences that made his paintings popular in France. Le Pho had the opportunity to tour Europe in 1933 and study closely the works of European masters. The Dutch influence in this painting can be seen in his treatment of the delicate scarves that the two women have around their bodies as part of the traditional costume known as ao dai. The figural composition within a landscape and stylisation on the other hand, are reminiscent of Italian masterpieces, notably that of Leonardo da Vinci’s famed Mona Lisa. Even with the titling of the work, we are reminded of the notorious American painter James Whistler (1834 – 1903) who chooses musical titles to remove the narrative element in his paintings. This excellent work, first exhibited in Paris, was in a private French collection for many years before it was purchased by the Museum.

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Bui Xuân Phai, "Old Hanoi Street", 1987-1988, oil on canvas, 63 x 99 cm, National Gallery Singapore ©2014 National Gallery Singapore

Ever since his solo exhibition in 1984, Phai had access to better painting materials. This is an unusually large canvas painting by the artist at a later part of his life. Executed in a painterly manner with the use of the palette knife, It is properly done of a street scene during the rainy season with grey skies.

The expressive pictorial language used in this painting recalls that of the French post-impresionist painters like Cezanne and Van Gogh but unlike the colour palettes of brillaint yellows, reds and blues often associated with them, Phai was drawn towards earthly tones. Phai built up the loose, painterly surface and the atmospheric appearance of the painting with the use of the palette knife that allude to his training at the Ecole des Beaux Arts de I'Indochine just before it was closed in 1945. This painting is considered to be a major work of the artist in this genre. For its relatively large size, it is probable that the canvas was provided either by a gallery or a private collector for Phai to print on. The painting was then displayed and sold in Paris.

Executed in the late 1980s, probably a year or two before the artist's death in 1988, the painting is a good example of the artist's increasingly expressive brush stokes and his use of a muted palette of earthly tones in the late paintings. Street scenes of Hanoi was the favourite theme of Phai during the 1970s and 1980s as the artist's poor health and living conditions restricted his mobility. The mood is usually sombre and often, the streets would be empty and desolate or like in this instance, a solitary figure is inconspiciously positioned in the foreground.

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Nguyen Nhu Huan (Thai Ha), 'The Ho Chi Minh Campaign", 2001-2004, traditional lacquer, 201 x 549 cm, National Gallery Singapore ©2014 National Gallery Singapore

This painting is fine example of a trend whereby war-time artists produced finished paintings or lacquer based on their memories during peace time, an activity that was not possible to embark on during the war for the lack of materials and the constant moving from one location to another. Although this practice has been going on for some time, first taking shape in the 1980s, it is only after 2000 that large canvases began appearing. This lacquer painting could possibly the largest produced in this medium.

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