(Remembering the famous artist who just said goodbye to the world)
On the international auction blocks, silk paintings of Nguyễn Phan Chánh, Mai Trung Thứ, Lê Phổ, Lương Xuân Nhị become works of high artistic value that are always warmly welcomed and loved.
The painter who made a name for Vietnamese silk painting in the Near-Modern period (1925-1945), certainly, is none other than Nguyễn Phan Chánh with his classic works, becoming a symbol of all value.
Thus, who is the next after Nguyễn Phan Chánh, who is able to inherit that great legacy to become a domestic painter with multi-faceted creation, themes, over years still keeping one of the leading positions of Việt Nam Modern Fine Arts? It’s NGUYỄN THỤ, the painter who gave silk a new life with beautiful paintings like poems, smooth and elegant, gliding through the eyes like a gentle breeze but always moving viewers’ emotions at the highest level.
Painter Nguyễn Thụ full name is Nguyễn Văn Thụ, hometown Đắc Sở commune, Hoài Đức district, Hà Tây. He graduated from Việt Nam College of Fine Arts class 1957-1962, also known as “Tô Ngọc Vân class”, title of Associate Professor, People’s Teacher, Rector of Hà Nội University of Fine Arts (now Việt Nam University of Fine Arts) from 1985 to 1991.
Painter Nguyễn Thụ (1930-2023)
The writer of this article remember when being a student of Yết Kiêu School (when the teachers’ dormitory used to share the same path with Gate 42 Yết Kiêu), passing the gates of painters Nguyễn Thụ, Huy Oánh and Lê Thiệp many times everyday because their houses were on the entrance to the classroom. At that time, Mr Oánh’s house was very familiar to us, it was the place where we sometimes came to ask for water, because Mr Chiến, the son of painter Huy Oánh, was a close friend to one of my classmate. As for Mr Thụ’s house, the gate was always closed. It’s very quiet inside. Occasionally, I saw Mr Thụ in the yard. As for the houses of Mr Đinh Trọng Khang, Mr Trọng Cát, Mr Thế Hùng, they were deep inside the dormitory… At that time, it was really fun with the tea shop and instant noodles of the deaf Ms Linh. It’s been over 30 years in a blink…
In the years 2005-2006, I was assigned to be in charge of an interview column with artists who had met President Hồ. Among them are painters Ngô Tôn Đệ, Nguyễn Thụ… This is the first time I have seen many paintings in his house with my own eyes, and been photographed with him and his paintings. The paintings with modest, gentle colors and poetic qualities, like dew, like smoke… about the mountainous landscape made me fascinated without taking my eyes off.
During the conversation, painter Nguyễn Thụ was very enthusiastic, he told carefully the story of how he met Uncle Hồ, how Uncle Hồ’s eyes were like bright stars, how his voice was… It could be seen that he deeply adored President Hồ. The theme of Uncle Hồ is one of his favorite themes and achievements.
Nguyễn Thụ. President Hồ on a business trip, Silk, 2000.
… The two of us sat and talked until late in the afternoon. And after the article was printed, I went to his house, bringing some of the edition.
Later, when I had more direct contact with his silk paintings, I saw a lot of paintings created through the periods with themes of war, leaders, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, nudes… Nguyễn Thụ is a person who had the ability to subtly observe all things and events from nature to humans. After that, he reduced them to a common, simple, and gentle form of shaping. He did not draw too deeply into the details of the figure, often using the blurred drawing style of silk and watercolor to create shapes like sumi-e paintings. The background is always as minimal as possible. Sometimes it’s just a flat area that sparing in colour, from which the shapes appear faintly, darkly, near and far.
Nguyễn Thụ. Raining. 1972. Silk.
At first glance, it seems that his drawing is too thrifty, lazy in shaping, but no, he captured the spirit, and just a few strokes of the brush tip, a few bold colors were spread, creating a whole poetic, lyrical scenery of beautiful nature. That is the charisma, the skill of an artist when capturing the form and the object in the most typical state.
Nguyễn Thụ. Spring in Tây Bắc. Silk. 1993.
Why did Nguyễn Thụ paint a lot and be successful with the theme of mountain? He was very fond of the mountain landscape, he had a kind and beautiful wife of the Tày ethnic group. She is also an inspiration in a lot of his works.
In an interview with painter Đỗ Hữu Huề, when he told a story about students of Tô Ngọc Vân class, he jokingly said: “Hey, looking at Nguyễn Thụ like that but he’s awesome. When coming to the mountains to practice, he kept quiet, how he brought a girl back to Hà Nội, that’s awesome.”
Nguyễn Thụ. Young woman. 1995. Silk.
The daughter of painter Nguyễn Thụ said that during her father’s internship in the years 57 and 58, her father was adopted by Ms Sâm in Càng Dưới village, Chi Lăng, Lạng Sơn. Her mother lived in Càng Trên village, her father often passed a beautiful Tày girl herding buffaloes… Then the two of them fell in love, so they became husband and wife. At that time, her maternal grandfather did not agree to let her parents get married. After that, thanks to her uncle’s influence and persuasion, her parents could come together.
And it is because of such attachments that the mountain landscape along with the activities of the ethnic people with all the most poetic and gentle things have created silk painting of Nguyễn Thụ that is extremely poetic and lyrical… become a symbol in Nguyễn Thụ’s paintings.
And certainly, NGUYỄN THỤ SILK PAINTING has an important position in the history of Việt Nam Modern art.
Artworks of painter Nguyễn Thụ:
Nguyễn Thụ. Spring. Woodblock print.
Nguyễn Thụ. Dew. 2010. Silk.
Nguyễn Thụ. Drop by the village. 1970. Silk.
Nguyễn Thụ. Portrait of Yên. 1957. Silk.
Nguyễn Thụ. Night of Lantern Festival. Silk. 1990.
Nguyễn Thụ. View of Thuận Châu, Sơn La. 1997. Watercolour on poonah paper.
Nguyễn Thụ. Season of ant eggs in Lạng Sơn. Silk. 1991.
Nguyễn Thụ. Happy Lunar New Year of Tân Tỵ. 2001. Watercolour on poonah paper.
Written by Viet Art View
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