Artist and cultural figure Do Duc has passed away.

During his lifetime, the painter Do Duc once told the author: "In life, there is no debt that must be repaid, no kindness that goes unappreciated." He lived a beautiful life guided by this realization. Upon his passing, countless acts of kindness from his friends were repaid.

Artist Do Duc - Photo: Do ​​Duc's Facebook

The cultural and artistic community in Hanoi , not just the fine arts, is paying their respects to the painter and cultural figure Do Duc. He passed away in the early morning of April 7th, after a period of battling a serious illness.

Artist Do Duc - a lifetime dedicated to painting the deep mountains and long rivers of the border regions.

Born in 1945, artist Do Duc graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Viet Bac School of Culture and Arts in 1970.

He went on to study at the Hanoi University of Fine Arts (now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts), graduating in 1980 with his graduation project, a woodblock print titled " Highland Market" .

This work has been included in the woodblock print collection of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum.

Artist Do Duc also has 14 works collected by the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum and 15 works preserved at the Thai Nguyen Museum of Ethnic Cultures. All of these works depict the life, culture, and costumes of ethnic minority groups in northern Vietnam.

Artist Do Duc can sit every day gazing at the mountain rocks - Photo: GĐCC

Regarding his connection with the cultural region of the northern border, artist Do Duc said that because he worked at the National Culture Publishing House, he had many opportunities to connect with the ethnic minority people in the mountainous areas.

In 1973, he went to Ha Giang for the first time, visiting several highland districts such as Dong Van and Quan Ba. He stayed there for only 23 days, and after that, that entire border region followed him throughout his artistic career, becoming Do Duc's "artistic homeland."

Through many years of fieldwork in the mountains, from Northwest to Northeast Vietnam, learning about and sharing the lives of ethnic minorities, he gained many more humanistic values ​​connecting nature with the people of these regions.

Do Duc said he could sit every day on the Ha Giang rocky plateau and admire the vast sea of ​​rocks on both sides of the road to Khau Vai, Meo Vac, Lung Phin, Lung Tao, Pho La, Pho Cao, and Dong Van.

Sitting and gazing at the plateau rocks like that, he felt as if he were seeing a sea of ​​prehistoric people fossilized, like a marketplace gathering on the mountain.

Therefore, the deep forests, long rivers, towering rocky plateaus, and the people of this region are the subjects that artist Do Duc has pursued throughout his life.

In September 2024, at the age of 80, the artist dedicated a heartfelt exhibition, also his last major solo exhibition, to rocks, to the borderlands, and to the people he had learned from and been grateful to throughout his life.

Artist Do Duc has dedicated his life to painting mountainous regions. Visitors viewing paintings at Do Duc's exhibition dedicated to mountainous themes in September 2024 - Photo: T. DIEU

There is a cultural figure named Do Duc.

Besides painting, Do Duc is also a renowned researcher of customs, culture, and traditions. Many famous writers, researchers, and artists respectfully refer to him as a cultural figure.

He has published dozens of books on culture, ranging from the culture of ethnic minorities to the culture, customs, and lifestyle of the old "countryside" in the Northern Delta.

He has many interesting books on literature and culture such as "Clothing and Cultural Characteristics of Ethnic Minorities in Northern Vietnam," "Hanoi, Isn't It?", "The Tattoo Artist," "Oh, Childhood," "The Custard Apple Opens Its Eyes," "Ten Years of Reflection," etc.

Some of Do Duc's cultural books - Photo: Do ​​Duc's Facebook

In addition, there are books on fine arts and photography such as "Studies on Modern Vietnamese Fine Arts," "Vietnamese Woodblock Prints," "Fine Arts of Vietnamese Ethnic Minorities," "Photography of Vietnamese Ethnic Minorities," etc.

Above all, he spent nearly half a century writing articles on culture and fine arts for many prestigious newspapers, making a significant contribution to the national culture and arts. In particular, he wrote extensively about his fellow artists, from contemporaries to seniors, with great respect.

He was like a walking encyclopedia of folklore and fine arts, always ready to share his knowledge with the younger generation.

He dedicated those acts of kindness to life, his friends, and future generations, leaving them forever in his memory.

BIRD OF HEAVEN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoa-si-nha-van-hoa-do-duc-qua-doi-20260407134236396.htm