100 years have passed since the Indochina College of Fine Arts (now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts) was established in Hanoi . The first class (1925-1930) created the pioneers of Vietnamese painting, famous artists such as: Nguyen Phan Chanh, Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu...

Painter Nguyen Phan Chanh (1892-1984), the pioneer of Vietnamese silk painting with the world- famous painting "Playing O An Quan" at the Paris Fair in 1931. Throughout his life, painter Nguyen Phan Chanh was faithful to the silk genre and the theme of women in daily life and work, with works such as: "Playing O An Quan", "Washing vegetables at the pond", "Going into trance", "Baby with the bird"... In the 1930s and 1940s, Nguyen Phan Chanh's silk paintings were present at exhibitions in Milan (Italy), Tokyo (Japan), San Francisco (USA)...

Outstanding female silk major students (Vietnam University of Fine Arts) received Nguyen Phan Chanh scholarships.

Before and during the resistance war against the French colonialists, the artist's creative career was halted for 15 years. When peace was restored, Mr. Le Quang Dao (at that time Deputy Director of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army), the artist's son-in-law, husband of writer Nguyet Tu, encouraged and supported the artist to return to Hanoi in 1955. Artist Nguyen Phan Chanh taught at the Vietnam Fine Arts School and started painting again. Thanks to that, in the years 1960-1970, the artist created many beautiful paintings such as: "Rice Harvesting", "Bathing in the Pond", "After the Battle", "Rattan Weaving Group", "Duck Herding"... Also during this period, artist Nguyen Phan Chanh was elected as a delegate to the 3rd National Assembly. Later, he was posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize (1st term, 1996).

After a long absence due to the war, it was not until the 1980s, that is, after 40 years, that writer Nguyet Tu and Dr. Nguyen Phan Canh (the artist's eldest daughter and son) together with the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum brought his paintings back, starting with exhibitions in many Eastern European countries.

Since then, writer Nguyet Tu has sought to restore and preserve silk paintings that were damaged due to frequent travel during the war and poor preservation in the hot and humid climate of Vietnam. In 2008, after 30 years of continuous searching, luck brought her to meet Mr. Nakamura Tsutomu, Director of Creative Position Core Company (Japan), a person passionate about Nguyen Phan Chanh silk paintings. Mr. Nakamura coordinated with the family to launch a project to restore Nguyen Phan Chanh silk paintings. This project was fully funded (from restoration, conservation, exhibition, book printing...) by Mr. Mitani Misuru, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the multi-industry international group Mitani Sangyo (in Vietnam alone, the group has nearly 2,500 employees). The paintings in the project were restored by the golden hands of Ms. Iwaii Kikuko, an artist who restored paintings by Picasso, Monet...

In 2011, at the age of 86, writer Nguyet Tu opened an exhibition of the first three restored paintings at the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. By 2024, nearly 20 works (paintings, sketches, sketches) had been restored and preserved for hundreds of years to come. These paintings have been exhibited many times in cities across Japan.

In 2025, Japan will hold a major exhibition on 100 years of Vietnamese art at the Asian Art Museum in Fukuoka Prefecture (from September to November 2025) and the Okinawa Prefectural Art Museum (from November 2025 to January 2026). These exhibitions will have a separate, solemn space to display the works of painter Nguyen Phan Chanh.

In October 2025, to celebrate its 100th anniversary, the Vietnam University of Fine Arts held an exhibition of pre-graduation paintings by students. At the exhibition, the school announced the decision on the annual Nguyen Phan Chanh Award and Scholarship, sponsored by the family of writer Nguyet Tu. This year, three outstanding female students majoring in silk received scholarships. The family of writer Nguyet Tu hopes that one of the school's students will be able to paint world-famous silk paintings, continuing the path that artist Nguyen Phan Chanh opened for Vietnamese silk paintings.  

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/giai-thuong-va-hoc-bong-nguyen-phan-chanh-1013707