Painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên (standing) at a meeting with writer John Steinbeck. Photo: TGTD Newspaper, volume XVI, No. 1
This photo was taken half a century ago, circa 1966. In the photo, the second person from the right is the world-famous writer, John Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for the novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’. The person on the left, dressed in black with an elegant appearance, is painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên, also known by the pseudonym Ngy Cao Uyên. That day, he and others in the Southern art world received writer John Steinbeck in Saigon when he came to learn about the Vietnam War. The photo is a beautiful memory and an honor for the person in the photo. More than a year later, John Steinbeck passed away and it was possible that the visit to Saigon was his last adventure.
The photo reminds painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên of his beautiful youth and most passionate artistic activity, in the mid-1960s. At that time, he and his friends had just established the Young Artists Association in November 1966 and was elected chairman of the association.
I met painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên in Saigon on a sunny afternoon at the end of October and several times after that. Now that he is older, living for many years abroad, although the time has been imprinted on his appearance, the elegance of an old Hanoi boy who attended Albert Sarraut school is still there. He still paints at the age of eighty, using new techniques on the computer desk or finding ways to improve watercolor painting techniques to express emotions in new shades. Now he has used his real name instead of the pseudonym Ngy Cao Uyên as in the past.
Painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên in 2015 in Saigon. Photo: Nguyễn Đình
The story goes back to the founding of the Young Artists Association, even though he was the founder of this organization from the beginning, painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên did not go along with the activities of the Association through the ages like other painters. He recalled, the mid-1960s was a time when many foreign art groups visited Saigon. The whole city at that time did not have an art association to welcome them equally. Seeing that artists had the need to gather together to promote the development of art, he and doctor Nguyễn Tấn Hồng, a painting connoisseur, considered establishing a separate organization as a playground of art for young Saigon artists.
The two of them founded it based on existing acquaintances and prestige. The meeting to discuss the official establishment of the association at Doctor Nguyễn Tấn Hồng’s house had many painters and sculptors, most of whom became famous later, such as Hiếu Đệ, Cù Nguyễn, Nguyễn Trung, Nghiêu Đề, Nguyễn Phước, Nguyễn Lâm, Mai Chửng, Đinh Cường, Hồ Thành Đức, Trịnh Cung and Ngy Cao Uyên and the host. It was November 1966. A leadership board of the Association was elected and painter Ngy Cao Uyên was elected interim chairman, painter Nguyễn Trung and painter Mai Chửng were vice chairmen, painter Trịnh Cung was secretary general.
The immediate thing was to have an office to work. Doctor Nguyễn Tấn Hồng borrowed a piece of land from the government at that time to build a headquarters in the city center at the corner of Công Lý (Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa) and Lê Thánh Tôn streets. Taking advantage of the acquaintance of the artist Ngy Cao Uyên, the Association found a scrap house in the airfield of the Air Force and after exchanging with the Air Force a few paintings, the house was dismantled to utilize the material. Painter Hồ Thành Đức presided over the design and construction of this house with the contribution of painter members. They built a nice, modern house out of pine and painted white.
Having a nice headquarters in the city center, the Association had become a place to attract a large number of artists, near the Literature house on the side of the University of Literature, often performing Trịnh Công Sơn songs, so musicians like Trịnh Công Sơn and Vũ Thành An often frequented and slept over. Occasionally, singer Khánh Ly dropped by. The Association’s headquarters had been an ideal place to gather young artists who were jubilant in the atmosphere of painting and music creation. There had been many exhibitions held here, talks and singing and sometimes the beginning of a love story… As the chairman of the association, painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên was on behalf of the members to receive the guests and organize exhibition. Occasionally there were paintings sold.
At that time, most of the paintings were oil paintings by Nguyễn Trung, Trịnh Cung, Nguyễn Phước, Nguyễn Lâm, there were silk paintings by Nghiêu Đề, Lâm Triết, collages by Hồ Thành Đức, etc. There were international receptions brought by the government. The association had more artists to participate such as Hồ Hữu Thủ, Đỗ Quang Em, Nguyên Khai, Hoàng Ngọc Biên, Dương Văn Hùng, Nguyễn Đồng, Rừng, Lâm Triết…
The latest work of artist Nguyễn Cao Nguyên exhibited in Saigon 2015. Photo: Nguyễn Đình
After the New Year of Mậu Thân 1968 with fierce wars on the street, the Young painter members returned when the war was calm and realized that their white headquarters had been razed. No one knew by whom or why it was like this. That beautiful house full of art only lasted for two years, short but enough to create the creative atmosphere of the most famous, most modern, and most successful group of South modern artists. The early painters later mostly shined, becoming famous artists.
This summer, painter Nguyễn Cao Nguyên returned to Vietnam with the intention of resting with his family. But by chance, he organized a small exhibition of abstract watercolor paintings with a technique he created, called “negative painting”. The exhibition did not promote too strongly, mainly to remember the good days of youth half a century ago, when he and his friends launched an organization for the most creative Saigon artists of a time.
Article by Researcher Phạm Công Luận
(From the book ‘Saigon life story of the street’ volume 3 – Phuong Nam book company published in 2016). The article has been allowed by the author to be published on Viet Art View’s media platforms.
