Artist makes glass engraving portraits of Uncle Ho and the General Secretaries

After a chance discovery at a car repair shop a few years ago, artist Bui Quoc Toan found his own unique creative path: tapping a hammer on glass to create cracks in the shape of vivid human portraits.

Mr. Bui Quoc Toan "paints" vivid portraits with just a hammer tapping on glass - Photo: NVCC

Passionate about drawing portraits of Uncle Ho since he was an art student, the first hammer-on-glass paintings that Mr. Bui Quoc Toan (real name is Bui Van Toan) created using the hammer-on-glass method (which he temporarily calls glass carvings) were portraits of Uncle Ho, General Vo Nguyen Giap and the General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1945 to the present.

Bui Quoc Toan and his passion for drawing portraits of Uncle Ho

Mr. Toan said he has been drawing portraits of leaders, especially Uncle Ho, for a long time. When he was a student at the Central Art Pedagogical School, in his first year he drew a portrait of Uncle Ho. He still hangs the painting in his hometown.

Since that first portrait of President Ho, Bui Quoc Toan cannot remember how many portraits of Uncle Ho he has painted. And when he created a new genre of painting, glass carving, the first completed painting was also a portrait of Uncle Ho.

A child looks at a painting of Uncle Ho and musician Van Cao by Mr. Bui Quoc Toan - Photo: NVCC

Next are portraits of generations of his outstanding students such as General Vo Nguyen Giap, General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Vietnam from 1945 to present such as General Secretary Truong Chinh, General Secretary Le Duan, General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh, General Secretary Do Muoi, late General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary To Lam .

Talking about his passion for creating portraits of Uncle Ho and leaders of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Mr. Toan said he wanted to contribute his small efforts to show gratitude to his predecessors who devoted their whole lives to the independence, freedom and happiness of the nation.

Mr. Bui Van Toan has just received a Vietnamese record certificate - Photo: NVCC

Last April, Mr. Toan introduced for the first time portraits of Uncle Ho, General Vo Nguyen Giap and the General Secretaries using glass carving art through the exhibition "Shine in Jade Glass" at the Ho Guom Cultural Information Center ( Hanoi ).

And recently, he was awarded the record for "The first exhibition of portraits of the country's leaders through the ages using glass carving art in Vietnam".

Portraits of General Secretaries by Mr. Bui Quoc Toan - Photo: NVCC

The pioneer of glass carving art

It can be said that Bui Quoc Toan is the painter who paved the way for the art of glass carving into paintings in Vietnam.

Mr. Toan said he discovered this new method of "painting" by accident. One day, when he went into a garage, he saw a broken glass that the garage had thrown away. The glass had been hit, creating beautiful cracks.

He asked for the glass to take home and continue to smash it to create the shape he wanted. The result was a painting that followed the artist's previous vision. He asked for some more relatively intact car glass after the collision and continued to smash it into paintings at home.

A special hammer and glass were specially researched and ordered by him to serve his creative work.

Add a felt-tip pen to sketch the picture faintly on the glass before using a hammer to impact the surface of the glass, causing it to crack but not break, creating the desired shape.

He chose to "paint" the faces of famous people, not only in Vietnam but also in the world. Mr. Toan said that after the exhibition, a foreign customer came to him, asking to buy all the paintings in this exhibition at a very attractive price, but he refused.

He wants his works to continue to stay in Vietnam for Vietnamese people to admire.

He is currently exhibiting at his personal gallery in Van Quan, Ha Dong, open to the public to welcome students and visitors to come and learn about history. He then plans to donate them to domestic organizations.

BIRD OF PARADISE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoa-si-lam-tranh-cham-kinh-chan-dung-bac-ho-va-cac-tong-bi-thu-20250822074226438.htm