Painter Nguyen Sang (1923 - 1988) is honored by the art world as a master of painting. He is an artist with many outstanding contributions to modern Vietnamese painting, and is the pioneer of the modern art movement based on the traditional art of his ancestors.
Contemporary Vietnamese painter
Painter Nguyen Sang’s full name is Nguyen Van Sang, born on August 1, 1923 in Dieu Hoa village, My Tho province, now Tien Giang province. Born into a family of teachers, Nguyen Sang had an “innate talent” for painting. He studied and graduated from Gia Dinh Fine Arts School, and studied at the Indochina Fine Arts College in Hanoi , class XIV.
In August 1945, artist Nguyen Sang participated in the uprising to seize power in Hanoi. From then on, he participated in all aspects of resistance life as an artist-soldier, using his drawings to serve the nation's resistance. He participated in drawing banknote designs (paper money), stamp designs, painted large-sized panels hung at the Hanoi Opera House, painted propaganda posters to promote enemy movements, participated in the uprising to seize power in Hanoi, participated in the Dien Bien Phu campaign... He also participated in illustrating books and newspapers and composing.
Nguyen Sang’s art is closely linked to the history of revolution and the history of art of the nation. He is one of the artists with the most beautiful oil and lacquer paintings, creating works on the theme of the Vietnamese revolutionary war. Some of his typical works include: “Admission to the Party in Dien Bien Phu”, “The enemy burned my village”, “Marching in the rain”, “Army resting on the hill”, “Young people in the citadel”…
In the theme of daily life, artist Nguyen Sang has outstanding works such as: "Girl by Hoan Kiem Lake", "Girl of Vietnam", "Thanh Giong", "Pho Minh Pagoda", "Girl by the lotus", "Velvet dance", "Unification", "Girl in the banana garden", "Buffalo fighting", "Wrestling"...
He was also successful with self-portraits: portraits of writer To Hoai, writer Nguyen Tuan, painter Duong Bich Lien...
Artist Nguyen Sang's paintings include many genres, from engravings, oil paintings to lacquer paintings. In every genre, he was successful, contributing valuable works to modern Vietnamese art. In particular, with lacquer materials, he created a new technique of color and tone. He added to lacquer a palette of yellow, green, and chlorophyll with rich expressions, using lacquer to express modern themes such as daily life, war, revolution, etc. In addition, he was also the one who successfully explored the European modern painting style, skillfully and skillfully combining it with traditional folk art, bringing works of art with historical and cultural value.
Artist Nguyen Sang was honored to design the first postage stamp bearing the name of Vietnam with a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh, a set of 5 stamps on the same frame, with different colors, issued under Decree No. 172/SL dated August 27, 1946 of the President of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. This is the first set of stamps of the revolutionary State, issued domestically and worldwide , with historical significance associated with the history of the Vietnamese revolution.
He was one of the artists summoned by the State and assigned to design the first Vietnamese banknotes. The first banknotes he drew were the 5 dong notes in a vertical format, different from the horizontal format. The front had a portrait of President Ho, the back had a mother with one hand on her child’s shoulder, and the other hand holding a bundle of rice. The 50 dong and 100 dong notes had a portrait of President Ho on the front, and a worker-farmer theme with a buffalo on the back…
He is one of the "four geniuses" of Vietnamese painting Nghiem, Lien, Sang, Phai, including: painter Nguyen Tu Nghiem (1918-2016); painter Duong Bich Lien (1924 - 1988); painter Nguyen Sang (1923-1988); painter Bui Xuan Phai (1920 - 1988).
Painter Nguyen Sang died on December 16, 1988 in Ho Chi Minh City, at the age of 65. For his contributions to the field of painting, he was posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts, Phase I, 1996, by the Party and State. The artist's name is recorded in the Larousse Encyclopedia in France.
Author of two National Treasures
To date, artist Nguyen Sang is the only person to have two works recognized by the State as National Treasures, including the lacquer painting “Party Admission in Dien Bien Phu” in 2013 and the lacquer painting “Thanh nien thanh dong” (2017).
The work “Party Admission in Dien Bien Phu” currently on display at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum is highly appreciated by experts for its traditional lacquer technique. The work recreates the heroic moment of the Dien Bien soldiers. The central group of characters consists of three soldiers, one of whom has a bandage on his head and a gun in his hand. This group of three is closely linked to two other soldiers on the right side of the painting with a determined handshake. In the trench, the Party admission ceremony takes place quickly. In the left corner is a soldier helping a wounded comrade, showing the fragile boundary between life and death. In the background, a soldier is rushing to the battlefield, emphasizing the urgent context of the war. With a tight composition, strong body, and bold colors, the painting “Party Admission in Dien Bien Phu” can be considered a national epic during the resistance war against the French, a symbol of the noble and heroic revolutionary spirit.
The work “Thanh Nien Thanh Dong” currently on display at the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum, created between 1967 and 1978, is a special work, its content originating from the historical context of the country during the years of resistance against the US to save the country. The work describes the struggle and demonstration of Saigon students in the 1960s during the war against the US. The painting shows the indomitable will of the intellectual class in protesting against the presence of American soldiers in Vietnam. The image of a group of heroic young men with bare hands, facing two American soldiers holding weapons, has left a mark on the courage and patriotism of the Vietnamese youth generation during the period of fighting for independence for the Fatherland.
According to artist Luong Xuan Doan, Chairman of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, artist Nguyen Sang was born and raised in the South, but he was attached to and had special feelings for Hanoi. During his lifetime, artist Nguyen Sang once said: "Without Hanoi, there would be no Nguyen Sang."
Remembering painter Nguyen Sang, painter Luong Xuan Doan recalls the image of a man quietly raising a glass of wine with his colleagues at Thuy Hu restaurant, or quietly creating masterpieces of art in the artist's house at 65 Nguyen Thai Hoc (Hanoi). At that time, his drawing board was the floor of a room of only 13 square meters. He often drew a lot on the floor with chalk, finished drawing and then erased it until he was satisfied before putting it on the painting.
“Painter Nguyen Sang is a great artist of Vietnamese contemporary art. He lived quietly all his life to create great artistic creations. Up to now, almost no work has surpassed the work “Party Admission Ceremony in Dien Bien Phu” by famous painter Nguyen Sang,” painter Luong Xuan Doan affirmed.
Artist Dang Thi Khue, former member of the Secretariat of the Vietnam Association of Plastic Artists, who worked with artist Nguyen Sang for more than 10 years, believes that in every field, artist Nguyen Sang has made outstanding contributions. Perhaps, the experiences of dedication in his youth have inspired his creativity, leading to artistic images filled with the depth of life, creating excellent works later, testifying to a historical period.
The nearly 40 years of creative achievements of artist Nguyen Sang with more than 100 works of various materials, displayed at his solo exhibition in July 1984, is a testament to his pinnacle of professional creativity, his dedication to revolutionary art and society, especially the uniqueness of his creative personality in language innovation.
“Nguyen Sang reached the peak of the period of realism. His art has left its mark on the development of Vietnamese art, establishing the position of an outstanding talent. Now, Vietnamese contemporary art has written new pages, but his creative example and personality will forever remain in the hearts of Vietnamese art lovers,” shared artist Dang Thi Khue.
According to VNA
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