100 years of Vietnamese modern art through representative works

The exhibition brings together 150 typical paintings, statues, and reliefs, recreating the century-long journey of training and artistic creation of the first academic art school in Indochina.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong emphasized that exactly a century ago, the Indochina College of Fine Arts opened its first course, opening a period of strong innovation in our country's fine arts through absorbing the quintessence of Western plastic arts, combined with traditional cultural and aesthetic values of the nation.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong speaks. Photo: H. Thuong

The exhibition is a vivid testament to the 100-year journey of formation and development of the school. Each work is the crystallization of talent, passion and creative aspiration, while reflecting the characteristics and typical artistic values of each historical period in the development of Vietnamese fine arts.

This is not only the pride of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, but also a precious cultural asset of the nation, demonstrating the confidence, mettle and integration spirit of Vietnamese art in the global flow.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong emphasized that the exhibition is also an opportunity to pay tribute and honor generations of principals, lecturers, painters and sculptors who have devoted themselves to the country's fine arts. They have created a unique appearance and identity for Vietnamese fine arts - an art that is both imbued with the national spirit and the breath of the times.

Director of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum Nguyen Anh Minh speaks. Photo: H.Thuong

Regarding the collaboration between the Vietnam University of Fine Arts and the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts to organize this exhibition, Director of the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts Nguyen Anh Minh said that throughout the 60-year journey of formation and development, the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts and the Indochina College of Fine Arts (now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts) have had a close relationship. The school is the place to provide and train human resources for the museum. In addition, the Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts also preserves and honors typical collections of generations of artists across the country, in which, over 60% of the works in the Modern Fine Arts collection were created by painters and sculptors who are teachers, students and pupils of the Indochina College of Fine Arts, now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. Many works have become National Treasures.

“This exhibition is also an opportunity for the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum to express its deep gratitude to generations of painters and sculptors who are teachers, students and pupils of the school who have contributed their intelligence and artistic creativity to the development of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum today,” Mr. Nguyen Anh Minh emphasized.

The exhibition “100 years of modern art - collection of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, Vietnam Fine Arts Museum” includes 6 parts: “French teachers - inspiration for students and modern Vietnamese art”, “Students yearning for a new face of national art (1925-1945)”, “The transformation from Indochina art to revolutionary art serving the resistance war (1945-1957)”, “Transforming Indochina art heritage into socialist realist art (1957-1981)”, “Innovation along the integration journey (1981-2008)”, “Integration and expansion of art (2008-present)”.

The exhibited works are selected from the collection of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, with contributions from the A&V Foundation and the family of artist Ngo Manh Lan. Most of the paintings and sculptures displayed in the exhibition are works that are rarely or never published. The works are presented with a variety of materials and rich forms, telling the fullest possible story about the school's training journey.

The exhibition takes place on two floors of the thematic exhibition area, open until November 22.

Presenting the Victor Tardieu Award to outstanding students. Photo: H.Huong

On this occasion, the Organizing Committee awarded the Victor Tardieu Prize - the first prize named after the Rector of the Indochina University of Fine Arts, for the outstanding graduation works of 2025 by students of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. Including 1 Special Prize and 6 specialized prizes.

Some works of the exhibition: