The year 2023 is exactly 115 years of birth and 30 years of death of famous artist Nguyen Gia Tri (1908 - June 20, 1993). In the legacy he left behind, in addition to lacquer masterpieces, there are also excellent sketches, students who love their craft and a strict working attitude. Looking at the sketches for lacquer, one can partly imagine the preparation steps for Nguyen Gia Tri's finished work.
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death, Binh Minh Art Gallery organized an exhibition of Nguyen Gia Tri's collection of Paper Sketch Paintings and Quick Drawings, displaying more than 50 works. The owners of this collection are lawyer Truong Van Thuan and Meritorious Artist Anh Tuyet, with more than 25 years of association with the family of artist Nguyen Gia Tue - Nguyen Gia Tri's son.
The beginning of "creative birth"
Attending the opening ceremony, Nguyen Gia Tue was moved: "Many of the sketches here were drawn by my father when I was little, but because they stayed in the family for so many years, he brought them out to study many times, compare while making new works, so I was deeply absorbed by it. Many of his drawings have made into his lacquer masterpieces. Meeting again the sketches, quick sketches here is like meeting my father again, true happiness".
Artist Nguyen Gia Tue speaks at the exhibition "Paper Sketch Paintings and Quick Drawings"
Artist Nguyen Xuan Viet, after being discharged from the army, came to learn from Nguyen Gia Tri about lacquer in general and lacquer techniques in particular. During about 17 years of studying and working with teacher Tri, Nguyen Xuan Viet not only listened to the teachings, but also carefully recorded what he said. Nguyen Gia Tri was a very quiet person. When he saw that his students couldn’t do it, he just shook his head and told them to do it again, with a few short instructions.
Mr. Viet said: "During those 17 years, I only heard him say this sentence once: "I compose with spirituality". Though he spoke so little, he always lived and composed with this concept. He also said: "The beauty of a work of art, when you see it, you see it, if you don't see it, you don't see it even if it were explained a hundred thousand times."
A corner of the exhibition "Paper Sketch Paintings and Quick Drawings"
Coming to see the exhibition of Paper Sketch Paintings and Quick Drawings, Nguyen Xuan Viet shared: "Entering this gallery, beauty lovers will see that each sketch always contains the beginning of creative birth. Admire these sketches, those manuscripts, our souls feel like meeting the soul of a famous artist, like meeting the stillness, the vibration, the liberation in each work."
Collector Truong Van Thuan said that he owned these sketches and sketches quite by chance, when he was not yet retired. "To be honest, I have a desire to own a few lacquer paintings by Nguyen Gia Tri, but this is too difficult, sometimes even if I have the money, I still can't buy it, because it’s not my fate yet. From that love, I continue to slowly collect sketches as a bridge to get closer to the famous artist I admire. After several decades, I look back and see there are hundreds of paintings, so I occasionally choose to display them. On Nguyen Gia Tri's death anniversary every year, my wife and I always come to light incense. Because we are so close, thanks to Nguyen Gia Tue's family, whenever we hear somewhere with sketches, we always come check them out."
Collector Truong Van Thuan
"It's impossible without a helper"
For Nguyen Gia Tri, before the lacquer technique was demonstrated and sublimated, he had to make many sketches, go through many steps, with many carefully calculated details in terms of ideas, graphics, color and layout.
Nguyen Xuan Viet said that there was one time teacher Nguyen Gia Tri told some students: "Manuscripts are like architectural plans of a building, the more accurate the better." Because after 4-5 months, the painting is as hard as a rock, if the sketch or manuscript is not accurate, it will be difficult to correct, difficult to continue drawing, not to mention drawing smoothly and gracefully.
Artist Nguyen Xuan Viet, student of famous artist Nguyen Gia Tri
Despite the notion that "making lacquer is like hard labor in prison", Nguyen Gia Tri was always a master of flexibility. Many of his paintings took several years to complete, some even took decades, but still maintained this flexibility - this is very difficult with lacquer. He was able to do it because of the preparation steps, in which the sketches and implementation steps were all very meticulous. Even innovative paintings came from the methodical techniques, rules, and aesthetics of lacquer itself.
During rush times, Nguyen Gia Tri has more than 10 assistant workers and 4-5 close students to help complete the work. He sketched, outlined and supervised the entire implementation process, following each step, if there was any unsatisfied or unqualified part, it would be scraped off and redone.
"Old man worked like a civil servant, he went to work on time, off work on time, was very diligent and had very high standards," - said Nguyen Gia Tue.
“The teacher and his wife were very loving and thoughtful to their students and assistants, always ensuring they had good food and fair wages, because teacher explained that lacquerware making was extremely laborious, with many intricate steps, and that it was impossible to if there is no assistants. Especially for large paintings, if one worked alone, it would take too much time and effort, and would be difficult to maintain the initial inspiration." – said artist Nguyen Xuan Viet.
"Draw too skillfully would slow down development"
In the book Artist Nguyen Gia Tri talks about creativity, written by Nguyen Xuan Viet, dated August 1, 1980, Nguyen Gia Tri said: "Because I made many mistakes, I made progress. However, draw too skillfully would slow down developmet.
If it weren't for Mr. I and Deputy Thanh (*), there wouldn't be my lacquer. Mr. I's contributions are immeasurable.
In the past, when he saw me making lacquer, Mr. I as an oil artist could not understand the "time" issue in lacquer painting. He really likes lacquer and really wants to try painting, but every time he sees lacquer it "eats" him, so he has to give up.
For each lacquer painting, you come up with a lesson to solve: strokes, stroke transitions, background color changes, black on red, red on black, black on silver...
Painting is close to religion because it comes from people's hearts. It is not coming from the brain or the hands. Must do a lot. Try to control lacquer. Pay attention to the changes in lightness and darkness of small details on the painting.
Each artist is a separate world, no one can fully understand it.".
(*) Mr. I that Nguyen Gia Tri mentioned here is the artist Joseph Inguimberty (1896-1971), who taught at the Indochina College of Fine Arts in the first course. Deputy Thanh is lacquer artist Dinh Van Thanh (1898-1977).
CONTACT BÌNH MINH ART GALLERY
Address·: 29A Ngô Thời Nhiệm, Võ Thị Sáu, Dt 3, HCMC
Hotline: 0916554329
Email: binhminhartgallery@gmail.com
Website: binhminh-artgallery.vn
Open: All week: 8:00 - 18:00
Cám ơn bạn đã gửi đánh giá cho chúng tôi! Đánh giá của bạn sẻ giúp chúng tôi cải thiện chất lượng dịch vụ hơn nữa.
-->-->
-->-->
-->-->
-->-->
-->-->
-->-->
. In the legacy he left behind, in addition to lacquer masterpieces, there are also excellent sketches, students who love their craft and a strict working attitude. Looking at the sketches for lacquer, one can partly imagine the preparation steps for Nguyen Gia Tri's finished work.&){kind=link}
ĐÁNH GIÁ SẢN PHẨM