The fine art career of artist and journalist Hoàng Hoa Mai must be mentioned with the portrait paintings of kings, heroes of the nation, and especially the subject of President Hồ Chí Minh that he has spent a lot of time on research and composition over the past decades. The compositions of portraits of Bà Triệu, Lê Hoàn, Lê Lợi, Nguyễn Trãi, Hồ Quý Ly, Lê Văn Hưu… are respectfully appreciated by the Thanh people and domestic public, both in terms of ideological content and art. He has had many works printed, published in newspapers, magazines and displayed in many central and local museums. The artist has had works in the national art exhibition 7 times (every 5 years), including 4 works about Uncle Hồ. He is one of the few artists in the country who painted many and succeeds on the subject of Uncle Hồ.
The works Uncle Hồ with the red pencil (oil painting), national art exhibition in 1990, Uncle Hồ writing the declaration of independence (oil painting), national art exhibition in 2009 on the theme “Study and follow Hồ Chí Minh’s moral example” in Hà Nội; Nguyễn Ái Quốc (oil painting), national art exhibition in 2005 and displayed at the Hồ Chí Minh Museum, Uncle Hồ on top of Trường Lệ mountain (oil painting), national art exhibition in 2010, Uncle Hồ at his talk with resistance officers in Thanh Hóa in 1947, national art exhibition in 2020; Nguyễn Tất Thành in America, displayed and preserved at Hồ Chí Minh Museum, Hồ Chí Minh City; Uncle Hồ working at Cô Tiên temple, Sầm Sơn, Thanh Hóa in 1960; Uncle Hồ visiting Gia Miêu Communal House (Hà Trung, Thanh Hóa in 1947)…
Artist Hoàng Hoa Mai’s consistent viewpoint when creating and painting the subject of Uncle Hồ is to only recreate events where there are no photos of Uncle Hồ coming to live and work, the artist only relied on history and people’s accounts to build the work. With that mindset of representing, the artist recently created the work Uncle Hồ at a talk with Thanh Hóa resistance officers in Pine Forest – Đông Sơn, Thanh Hóa in 1947.
‘Uncle Hồ working at Cô Tiên temple, Sầm Sơn, Thanh Hóa in 1960’, oil painting of artist Hoàng Hoa Mai
The work Uncle Hồ at a talk with resistance officers at Pine Forest, Đông Sơn district on February 20, 1947 is the work of the artist’s affection that he has diligently researched for decades to create. The work began to be composed in the 70s of the last century with many sketches in many different materials. The sketches that the artist presented are all arranged in a crowded with layers, structured in the style of historical illustration, interpretation, and have realistic subjects and objects. This way of describing of the artits has received many mixed opinions from historians, art and culture experts at the central as well as local. In the end, the artist had to generalize according to impressionism from the idea of Uncle Hồ’s kind words to the people of Thanh Hóa, “Thanh Hóa province must become an example province” (1). This is the main content of the work that many social scientists as well as the art-loving public strongly agree with.
So how should the artist paint to express His thoughts and feelings towards Thanh Hóa, a key province for the North and South of the country during the resistance war with a large population and large land, vast mountains and forests, with many ethnic groups living together and with a long-standing revolutionary tradition that continues to contribute human resources and talent to the resistance war against the French invader. That requires the artist to clearly express the space, time, and history at that time in the context of our nation’s resistance war becoming more fierce than ever. On the other hand, the artist must extensively research the theme of the work about His portrait, His thoughts and feelings towards the officers and people of Thanh Hóa and conclusion of the talk: “Thanh Hóa province must become an example province. Examples must be made so that all aspects of politics, economics, and military are examples. Be an example person, an example house, an example village, an example district, an example province. If you are determined to do something, you will become an example.” (2)
Uncle Hồ at the talk with resistance officers in Pine Forrest – Đông Sơn, Thanh Hóa, 1947
He advised many important issues for the locality to be determined to do, such as increasing production, fighting, strategic obligations to the national revolution, striving to reduce poverty, getting rich, contributing human resources and finance force for the resistance war against the French in the new phase of the nation. He said:
The goal is for the poor to have enough to eat
People who have enough to eat to be quite rich
People who are quite rich must get richer…
Everyone is literate
Everyone knows how to unite and be patriotic (3)
Speaking of the power of solidarity, Uncle Hồ noted, “How should we treat our comrades? Be cordial to each other but don’t cover up things which are not good. Do not fight for each other’s influence. You should not be jealous, envious and despise those who are not equal to you. Give up the way of greed for fame and position” (4). Regarding the organization and management of the role of officers and leaders in the revolutionary resistance war and building the country, Uncle Hồ only said: “Thanh Hóa province, in my opinion, wants to become an example province, certainly because of the large land, the wealth and many people, just lack of control and arrangement…” (5). All of His thoughts are the highlight of the portrait of Him in the painting.
In order for the work to be convincing and true to history, the artist met many witnesses of that time and they said specifically that it was mid-spring in February of that year but the weather was still very cold; He was wearing light yellow khaki clothes, with a coat, and canvas shoes, sitting on a rock at the foot of the pine mountain; Uncle Hồ kindly called the audiences to come closer to listen clearly and everyone attentively looked at Him, listened and took down His instructions for the purpose, meaning and responsibilities of officers in the resistance war and building the country…
To describe His charisma, eyes, and appearance at that time, the artist had to find many images of Uncle Hồ from the period 1945 to 1948 to study carefully. In the bibliographies and historical documents of Thanh Hóa Province and the Central Government, there is not a single photo taken of Uncle Hồ in Pine Forest (February 1947), which was a difficult problem for the artist to compose this picture. Artist Hoàng Hoa Mai sketched many portraits and poses for many years from 1976 until early spring 2016 before finally shaping the work.
In the painting, the artist has summarized His kind face, bright eyes, cheerfulness, and kindness when talking, and especially when Uncle Hồ emphasized the conclusion of the talk, which the artist took as the core of thought throughout the painting. In order to make Thanh Hóa officers understand fully and easily the important issues, Uncle Hồ had prepared the contents in a notebook that He used every day.
The artist said that he has recorded documents related to this event over the past decades, met many people at that time, they recounted: When talking, Uncle Hồ sat on a rock in a comfortable pose. He placed the notebook on His knee, and His right hand was occasionally raised to emphasize important issues so that officers could easily understand and remember. To make the picture vivid, the artist has structured the portrait, style and landscape into a unified, harmonious and complete picture. Through that, viewers could feel the affectionate feelings and warm, joyful, and optimistic voice that Uncle Hồ had for Thanh Hóa.
The entire painting is arranged against a green background of forests, as if signaling a bright spring of the approaching victorious revolution in which Uncle Hồ is the bright star leading the way for the nation, including the people of Thanh Hóa.
And the truth is, in the deep consciousness of the Thanh people, Uncle Hồ’s advice 70 years ago has moved the determination to bring the economy, national security and defense, and culture and society to increasingly develop to satisfy His wish.
As an artist and member of Việt Nam Fine Arts Association, Hoàng Hoa Mai has created many fine art works about important people of the country, in which the subject of Uncle Hồ is affectionate in the artist’s whole life.
(1), (2), (3), (4), (5): Complete works of Hồ Chí Minh – Hà Nội national political publishing house, 1995.
Written by Nguyễn Hoàng
