Duy Liem (Tran Duy Liem 1916 – 1994). Ceremony of picking the bride up*. 1950. Silk. 57×107 cm
According to the book “Saigon – The life story of street”, volume 1, by the author Pham Cong Luan – today’s leading cultural researcher in Saigon, in the article “Duy Liem – the artist of populace” wrote: “Saigon has many famous artists mentioned by the Southern press, especially from the 1960s onwards. Their paintings appear in luxurious exhibitions, splendid living rooms. Duy Liem, an individual artistic talent, stands solely in a corner of life and still sparkles in the memories of many Southerners. Someone once compared, he’s just like the artist Katsushika Hokusai (Japan) of Vietnam, because they have a great career in creation, although they are of different calibre, they are all attached to the life of their people and influenced contemporary art.”
Artist Duy Liem did not create many of his own paintings. He mainly produced templates of paintings for firms. In an article by Nhat Uyen – son-in-law of artist Duy Liem: “His paintings enter the daily lives of Vietnamese people. Everyone remembers the cheerful colors, curves, cubist broken lines, from the banknotes of the Viet Minh era, to ‘áo dài’ of Mrs. Ngo Dinh Nhu, the painting Sad Music, which won the first prize in Southeast Asia, still decorates the living room of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, to music covers, book covers from 1954 to 1990, to Thanh Le and Lam Son lacquer paintings, Bien Hoa pottery, Thu Ha embroidery, carpets, crafts, lacquer covers, lacquer boxes… and hundreds of silk and oil paintings have been sold abroad…”
Artist Duy Liem (left, at the door coming in) take visitors to the lacquer painting workshop at Thanh Le Company
At that time, artists Ta Ty and Duy Liem were considered to have a Cubist visual language. According to Mr. Huynh Huu Uy, besides “Ta Ty’s voice resonates to a high degree among the intellectual classes, cultural and artistic world” artist Duy Liem “brings a new voice of modern art to the populace everywhere”. He asserted: “It is at this point that we must objectively recognize that artist Duy Liem is the painter that has made a great contribution to enhancing and modernizing the aesthetic sense of the Vietnamese people.” (the book Saigon – The Life Story of Street, Pham Cong Luan)
Artist Duy Liem, real name Tran Duy Liem, was born in 1916 in Phan Thiet. His father is Tran Duy Hinh, a bourgeois and his mother is Ms. Truong Thi Hanh, a famous midwife in the area; his younger brother is actor Tran Duy Chanh… He graduated from Gia Dinh Fine Arts Decoration School, Faculty of Decorative Painting in 1937 with artist Bui Van Kinh. Duy Liem is a multi-talented person when he masters many musical instruments such as violin, accordeon, banjolin, guitar, zither… (the book Saigon – The Life Story of Street, Pham Cong Luan)
Portrait of artist Duy Liem (Tran Duy Liem 1916 – 1994)
This silkwork of artist Duy Liem introduced by Viet Art View this time has no signature. But there are a few reasons below to use as documentary evidence for a conclusion – this is a genuine work created by artist Duy Liem. First, according to the buyer’s own words; it was a French overseas Vietnamese. The painting was bought by her from artist Duy Liem in the 1970s (the first painting she bought). She has a close relationship with the family of artist Duy Liem. In addition to Duy Liem’s paintings, she also owns many paintings by famous artists such as Do Quang Em, Ho Huu Thu, Trinh Thai… She said that all the paintings in her private collection were purchased by her from the artists. The reason for buying is also very simple, using paintings as a decoration for her luxurious private houses. This year, she is over 70 years old, living in Vietnam, France and the US. She especially loved the painting, so she brought it with her many times when she moved to the place of residence over the past few decades. From Vietnam, to France, to the US and then back to Vietnam. Currently, the painting belongs to a private collection in Hanoi.
Second, the daughter of artist Duy Liem is Ms. Duy My, and Ms. Ho Dac Anh Thi (daughter of Duy My – granddaughter of artist Duy Liem) confirmed, Ms. D, a French overseas Vietnamese who bought the painting in the 1970s, is a family acquaintance. Ms. Duy My saw the painting through photos and Ms. Thi also saw the painting directly…
Third, based on the painting itself of penmanship, visual language, and art style to be able to recognize this is a work created by artist Duy Liem. A world-renowned art researcher once said “if a painting cannot find its origin it must be based on what is expressed on its own surface”. Artist Pham Cung said that “Duy Liem’s paintings with cubist style were very popular in the years before 1975. Duy Liem’s drawings are unique, unmistakable with any other artist, vivid and depicting the character’s mood in the work, create the emotions on the viewer with very distinct broken lines…” (the book Saigon – Life story of street, Pham Cong Luan) Duy Liem’s woman character usually has eyes that look down, quiet and sadly.
This silk painting has a binary dimension of 57×107 cm, depicting a large procession, crowded with characters, many decorative details. At first glance (without looking closely at every detail) we immediately think of a procession with the theme of “return with glory to be thankful”. There is a folk saying “Guard is on sides of the road – My horse walked in front of your hammock, following.” This image is clearly depicted in the painting “The doctor return with glory” by Nguyen Khang (1944, lacquer, Vietnam Fine Arts Museum) and in the painting “Return with glory to be thankful”, silk, by Tran Van Tho…
Ms. Ho Dac Anh Thi also sent Viet Art View a reference to the silkwork theme “Return with glory to be thankful” currently owned by the artist’s family. This is one of the templates themed “Return with glory to be thankful” by Duy Liem. Some of these templates were put into production by Thanh Le firm, becoming one of the most popular templates of lacquer paintings.
Duy Liem (Tran Duy Liem 1916 – 1994). Ceremony of picking the bride up*. 1950. Silk. 57×107 cm
As mentioned above, the painting depicts a procession that Viet Art View find the motif is quite similar to the theme “Return with glory to be thankful”. But, after looking closely at the descriptions of characters, costumes, objects, and belongings, we noticed, could this be the scene of a “ceremony of picking the bride up”? (one of the six rituals in the wedding ceremony of the ancient Vietnamese people – ‘nạp thái’ ‘vấn danh’ ‘nạp cát’ ‘nạp trưng’ ‘thỉnh kỳ’ ‘thân nghinh’) or according to the folk way of calling “picking the bride up – take her to the palace”, based on the following details:
– The two letters meaning “double joy” (Nom script) is meticulously and clearly shaped by the artist on the body of a pair of lanterns, right in the middle of the picture
– The man character is sitting on a horse, holding a wooden box, covered with a cloth (possibly a gift item).
If he passed the exam and become one of officials, he would wear an dragonfly’s wing-hat, not a normal black cloth.
– The woman character sitting in an antique palanquin, wears a gold necklace with a jade pendant, a gold bracelet… which are jewelry items that are often given in wedding ceremonies.
– Some gifts or dowries of the bride’s family, chests (boxes) containing personal belongings, furniture, wooden boxes, ceremonial pigs, wine bottles… showed that this was a scene of “a ceremony of picking the bride up” rather than “a ceremony of returning with glory to be thankful”.
In a black and white photograph, taken in 1866, depicting a ceremony of picking the bride up in the southern region, there are many details similar to Duy Liem’s painting. Based on the detailed analysis of the above data, Viet Art View would like to send it to art lovers another point of view of the content that artist Duy Liem intended in this painting. Just a few different details can change the “defined theme” of a work.
According to the buyer, artist Duy Liem said that his work was created in the 1950s was quite reasonable. Ms. Ho Dac Anh Thi also confirmed that this picture was painted by her grandfather in the (late) 1950s or 1960s. After more than 70 years, after moving many times to France, the US and then back to Vietnam, silk surface has quite a lot of time stains, is stained in some places, there are a few places where the thin silk has fallen off, a few small cracks; color ink has penetrated the silk fibers very deeply, making the whole picture tinged with time…
The scene at a wedding in Saigon in 1866. This is one of the oldest wedding pictures taken in Vietnam. Photo: Emile Gsell
In terms of artistic composition, brushstrokes, dithering – young green; characteristic shaping details; the broken line of the picture – the hair – the face shows very boldly the painting language of Duy Liem. Compared with other works of Duy Liem is similar and reasonable.
When we asked about the autographs of artist Duy Liem on the silk painting “Return with glory to be thankful” owned by the family, Ms. Ho Dac Anh Thi said that there is no autograph but the family think it is reasonable. After accessing the details given by Viet Art View, she had a different view on the subject.
So, is the subject of the painting a “ceremony of picking the bride up” or not? We are looking forward to the most objective opinion from professionals as well as art lovers and connoisseurs.
Ms. Ho Dac Anh Thi (granddaughter of artist Duy Liem) with the work Ceremony of picking the bride up*
Fortunately, Viet Art View invited Ms. Ho Dac Anh Thi (on her business to Hanoi) to see (directly) this painting. Images of the work were also sent (by our video) for Ms. Duy My to see. Ms. Thi was very touched when she saw a rare silk painting by her grandfather 70 years ago in Hanoi…
P/s: * The name of the work is temporarily given by Viet Art View
By Viet Art View
Copyright belongs to Viet Art View
