Do Phan listens to paintings

Currently, on average, there are art exhibitions almost every week in Saigon. Not to mention the quality of the paintings in the exhibitions, first of all, the density of exhibitions also shows a vibrant creative life.

Works like Do Phan's "Vong am sac mau" (Colorful Echoes) appearing at the present time are even more necessary, especially for those who are not familiar with colored brushes and white canvas.

The collection of notes "Colorful Echoes" by artist Do Phan is divided into two parts "Discussion and Discussion" and "Remembering and Recording".

The first part, as the name suggests, is composed of short essays discussing issues of painting from basic, universal to "current" issues such as Indochina fine arts or issues of fine arts today.

Do Phan writes "discussions" seriously and frankly, not afraid to bring up issues that could put him in controversy.

For example, when talking about the situation of paintings by some artists who studied at the Indochina College of Fine Arts being worth millions of dollars, he wondered "are they really worth that much? This is not an easy matter to conclude".

In the second part: "Remember and Record", Do Phan uses words to draw portraits of artists such as Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Bui Xuan Phai...

In the article Van Cao with black and white emotions, he showed readers another aspect of Van Cao's talent as a musician. Without being too colorful, Van Cao's newspaper illustrations "almost discovered the concept of artistic illustration".

According to Do Phan, the minimalism Van Cao applied in newspaper illustrations is a special technique, when "he knew how to remove all unnecessary things but pushed the shapes and lines in the direction of emotions to a fierce climax". And Do Phan concluded: "Until now, only Van Cao has succeeded with that simple drawing style".

Although it is an "art book", Colored Echoes does not have any illustrations as is often seen in art talk books.

For Do Phan, "painting or literature is not much of a distance". Therefore, through words, he evoked the world of shapes and colors. He also "heard" in those shapes and colors the sounds and stories: stories of work and stories of life.

Do Phan was born and raised in Hanoi . He graduated from the Hanoi University of Fine Arts. He used to teach at the Faculty of Architecture, Hanoi University of Civil Engineering.

Do Phan is the author of many novels and essays... In 2014, Do Phan received the Hanoi Writers Association Award with the novel Dang Dac Trien Song Mua.

Do Phan believes: "The pursuit of beauty has always been my thought. Beauty does not divide between joy and sadness in both image and thought. It has only one destination: to move people's hearts."

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HUYNH TRONG KHANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/do-phan-nghe-tranh-20250930102306895.htm