In this 1941 painting, Hoang Tich Chu used light blue color. A more vibrant blue was used in the “Christmas” theme lacquer painting with Nguyen Tien Chung in 1942-1943. This blue color is also seen in the lacquer painting “Market Bo waterfall” by artist Nguyen Van Ty. So, it can be seen that the technique of making blue was quite popular in Vietnam, not until artist Nguyen Van Ty came to Japan in 1943 visited and brought the technique of using blue to the country (like some documents).
Artist Nguyen Binh Minh, daughter of artist Nguyen Van Ty, said that “My father used the dark blue color of gouache crushed with shiny brown paint to paint blue. Light or dark was due to adding color or using thin or thick. This blue when crushed with shiny brown was very clear, the more you grind, the more of blue it becomes.” She also added that “anyone who has used blue gouache is afraid because it is light, blue is flying everywhere… Only later did they use Japanese blue (probably after 1975). Thus, it was possible that the blue color in the paintings of Hoang Tich Chu and Nguyen Van Ty came from crushed gouache and shiny brown paint…”
The lacquer painting “Mountain Landscape” by Hoang Tich Chu here is just a small picture in the lap of a tray, with the function of both use and decoration. But with the typical visual language of Hoang Tich Chu, with the rare soft blue color palette that gave his “Mountain Lanscape” much to associate, speculate, on that basis, examine some documents previously written… about the technique of using Vietnamese lacquer painting materials before 1945.
