Nguyen Gia Tri believes: "Each painting is a living body. It has its own life. It will impact other viewers if they have sympathy." In this article, with the consent of artist Nguyen Xuan Viet, the Sports and Culture newspaper (TTXVN) summarizes a few short passages from the book Artist Nguyen Gia Tri talks about creativity (1998) by Nguyen Xuan Viet, to understand more about this famous artist's creative perspective and abstract art.
One of the sayings at the end of Nguyen Gia Tri's life: "There is no finished painting. All are sketches." Nguyen Gia Tri is very reserved, shy of meeting unfamiliar people, and almost does not talk to strangers. To have this book, it proves that Nguyen Xuan Viet was very meticulous and knew how to listen and take notes.
Nguyen Gia Tri in his youth
Abstract philosophy
In notes dated November 19, 1980, Nguyen Gia Tri wrote: "It is because the artist wants to know and see his mind that he works. Because he does not know, he paints.
Abstract art should not be distinguished from other sects. It is just a means for the artist to find the real thing. Abstract painting is difficult because the artist has no place to rely on real patterns. Every dot, every line in abstract paintings also have their own images and are one with the whole painting. But each drop shines in the sunlight. Every detail in the painting is under equal control.
Pollock paints abstract means he "goes into a trance", incarnates himself, becoming one with the painting. All life emotions appear there”.
Nguyen Gia Tri added: "Learning to draw is like riding a bicycle, when you first get on, you wobble, tilt, then regain your balance and just keep pedaling straight. Composing, at times feels like a dream. The artist does not think, just create. When one think they are painting abstractly, the painting is no longer abstract. At that time, the creation is divided, between the painting and the artist. In front of nature, one can still draw out the abstract. Sometimes in the concrete form, people see the abstract."
Abstract painting (120cm x 180cm, circa 1970s) by Nguyen Gia Tri, belongs to the collection of Dinh Vu Hai (HCMC)
When asked: Does abstract painting destroy the real image or weaken the real image? Nguyen Gia Tri replied: "Afraid that abstract painting will affect real images? There will be an influence. But it's like food. When you eat it, it will be digested. I can't directly see how it's digested."
And he concluded: "Composition, at times, is like a dream. The artist does not think, just create. When one think they are painting abstractly, the painting is no longer abstract. At that time, the creation is divided, between the painting and the artist.".
Abstract sketch (77cm x 100cm), belongs to the collection of Truong Van Thuan
Aware of yourself
On May 4, 1979, Nguyen Gia Tri wrote: "Aware of yourself is a big step forward. But to aware of yourself, you must overcome yourself. Only when you are not influenced by that awareness can you free yourself. Learning to draw is thinking for yourself, walking on your own. Looking into your own mind and you will never get lost. The real artist is never lost, because when you looks for something, getting lost is always interesting. Even if you gets lost in hell, you are still able to see hell, because you always seek in a pure and innocent way. The most dangerous thing is to follow others, or get lost in money and fame ".
The book "Painter Nguyen Gia Tri talks about creativity" (1998)
On December 11, 1981, he wrote: "Fast or slow doesn't matter, because time is in our minds. We can draw forward, backward, either way. Because drawing is like our handwriting. When we incarnated, it is us, we are it. Only then can we distinguish even the most subtle errors. Like an orchestra conductor who can distinguish every single off-key note”.
Recorded on November 19, 1980: "The most important thing in making art is being honest. The most harmful thing is being fake to yourself. You have to work seriously, sometimes being harsh with yourself. Do hundreds of broken pieces to only take half of a good piece, or just one good piece. An artist is never satisfied."
"Materials make up half of an artist. You must love the materials, like you love your wife, only then do you have your child that is your work. Each material has its own characteristics. You must understand its own unique nature. For example: Thickness of oil paint. With lacquer, it requires flatness, gloss, or in any way, as long as the artistic effect is achieved. Whenever there is an unqualified part, the painter feels guilty and finds a way to fix it. Until you are temporarily satisfied, or satisfied with that painting."
"A painting must give up all meaning. Because doing it intentionally means there is already a gap between us and the material. Trying to express the idea creates an even bigger gap. Incarnating into the whole is always the same, It's not that we pay attention to something small that makes it become significant. Always look at the whole, look at the big things. Making lacquer paintings help us understand time, understand life. Laquer is a means for us to live and it is also a salvage. At some point, the two merge into one. Because what is a means cannot be a salvage."
Nguyen Gia Tri contemplates: "Live right, live enough, then when we die we will see that we have done right, done enough, not wasted our life, we can die peacefully. Life and death are like white and black. Those two things are hidden, appeared, intertwined, like light and dark in a painting, they are one."
Hate looking back at what has been done
Rarely writing letters. In a letter to artist Nguyen Van Ty dated October 11, 1975, Nguyen Gia Tri wrote: "... You asked me about the photos of paintings, I personally never take pictures of my works because of the shiny characteristics of laquer, it is very difficult to capture all of the beauty of the paint. To be honest with you, I really hate looking back at what I've done, I even try to forget it. Forget it, forget all, the cleaner traces of what has passed, the better."
"Unfortunately, customers mostly ask artists to do over and over again the same styles they did decades ago, or last year, the year before that! The truth is, because a career has to live, has to develop, we still have to follow the customer's wishes a bit, trying to maintain some freedom of creativity, but with the lacquer craft, that's a bit of an issue in terms of the customer spending money for us to do it, also the difficulty is that we are bound within the narrow framework of habits, of ideas, of books, of past experiences, too familiar like a worn path.
My mind therefore faces the biggest obstacle to artistic creativity, it is not production, it does not rely entirely on technique no matter how sophisticated, but it requires a fresh, innocent, sharp and sensitive. Live! No pretense, no description, no translation, that, I believe the true creativity should be like."
Source: Sports Culture
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