Exhibition revives traditional Hue paintings

Nhan Dan Online – ‘3D White’, an exhibition of works by painter and art critic Nguyen Quan, opened on June 5 at Gallery Art Talk Café, 12 Quan Su in Hanoi.
A painting at the exhibition
A painting at the exhibition

True to the exhibition’s name, the 26 paintings and three stone statues on display, created between 2008 and 2011, are predominately white and focus on Quan’s favourite theme of female beauty. However, the painter brings a freshness to his works through the harmonious mixture of oil paint, printmaking and traditional Vietnamese techniques.

Most notable is Nguyen Quan's use of unique folk prints from Sing village in Thua Thien Hue province in his paintings.

Many years ago, Quan travelled to Hue city where he was introduced to Sing folk prints. He was surprised that local residents bought the beautiful monoprints and burned them for dead people at funerals without enjoying their beauty. He was interested in their unique colours and styles, so he decided to tear and paste pieces of the prints onto his artworks for the living to enjoy.

Although there is a precedent for using Hang Trong and Dong Ho folk paintings in contemporary art, Nguyen Quan is the first to combine Sinh folk prints in his contemporary painting.

Born in 1948, Nguyen Quan is known for still lifes and paintings of nude women. He calls himself “a fellow-passenger” in Vietnamese fine art. Over the past 40 years he has worked at the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and the Fine Art Publishing House in addition to his painting and art criticism.

‘3D White’ will run until June 20.