Artist Quách Phong: 16 years of depicting history through paintings.

On the afternoon of July 23rd, during a visit and gift-giving ceremony by Ho Chi Minh City leaders at the home of artist Quách Phong, everyone listened as he recounted his dedication to creating the "Thousand Years of Vietnamese History" series of paintings over the past 16 years.

Artist Quách Phong introduces his collection of paintings, "A Thousand Years of Vietnamese History," to Ms. Đinh Thị Thanh Thủy (far left) and leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Literature and Arts. - Photo: LINH ĐOAN

On the afternoon of July 23rd, a delegation led by Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh Thuy, Deputy Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, visited and presented gifts to veteran artists who have made significant contributions to the city's literature and arts. The delegation visited painter Quach Phong, photographer Doan Cong Tinh, photographer Nguyen Trieu Hung, and writer Doan Minh Tuan.

Artist Quách Phong sells land to fund his paintings of Vietnamese history.

Artist Quách Phong, whose real name is Quách Văn Phong, is an artist who emerged from the war zone and is considered a veteran artist of our city from the early days after 1975, contributing to the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association. He has been actively involved in promoting the development of painting and fine arts in the city.

During a meeting on the afternoon of July 23rd, artist Quách Phong shared his heartfelt thoughts about his "Thousand Years of Vietnamese History" series of paintings with Ms. Đinh Thị Thanh Thủy.

He began working on this series of paintings in 2009 with the desire to depict Vietnam's history over 4,000 years. The sketches chronicling Vietnam's history through various periods (from the Hung Kings era) to the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and the Southern resistance movement have been completed.

Now he's putting those images onto lacquer paintings, creating over 400 meters of artwork with about 700 individual paintings.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online, he shared: "This Tet holiday I'm 90 years old. Previously, I painted every day and hired two artists to help me transfer my sketches onto lacquer paintings. However, now I've run out of money, so I don't hire them anymore and do it myself. Luckily, my son and son-in-law help me!"