Painter Van Da - Bringing color to our common life

Through the frames

The person who introduced me to painter Van Da to make a film was painter Quach Dai Hai from the Army Literature Magazine. At that time, I often went to the Army Literature Magazine to get manuscripts to introduce on television, so I was very "pampered" by my uncles and brothers.

I learned a lot of skills here and finally returned to the house at number 4 Ly Nam De to work until now.

In those days, we worked on literary scripts for portrait films very carefully, down to every scene, which we called paper filming. I had never attended a day of school and was assigned to work with good cameramen, so I was afraid that they would correct my work, or even find fault with the editing. But I also worked and learned at the same time, so everything went smoothly.

The film about painter Van Da is my first film. I and painter Quach Dai Hai spent a few weeks talking to him in the attic near the lake on Tran Vu Street ( Hanoi ). Painter Van Da was very open-minded, always pouring wine for Quach Dai Hai and me to sip, and he told all kinds of stories, especially the story about not having money to hire models, so the painters had to invite their close girlfriends to be models.

Their paintings were so different that the models gradually escaped. In those days, whenever artists were looking for nude models, they had to be as secretive as if they were selling counterfeit silver, but Van Da, Mai Van Hien, etc. were still very talented in creating outstanding paintings, especially to satisfy their thirst for a career in difficult times.

Artist Van Da knows how to act, which saved me from many obvious failures in my first somewhat naive films. Artists are usually very good at composition and shaping.

I was an editor and director of portrait documentaries when I suddenly found a "gold mine" from the elders. Van Da was like that. Vu Cao was also great in the film. Painter Mai Van Hien, despite being in a wheelchair, still knew how to lead the frames both gracefully and delicately like a master, so that our generation could grow up naturally.

I remember very well, in a trip, painter Van Da and poet Vu Cao and their literary friends returned to Nui Doi (Soc Son, Hanoi). The elders were all nearly 80 years old but still climbed the mountain, making the young people exhausted. The old unit in Soc Son could not believe their eyes when they saw the author of the famous poem "Nui Doi" appear in person.

Artist Van Da sketched the images of the unit directly, making everyone very excited, as if they suddenly forgot the hardships of everyday life. Literature and art truly have great power. A lowly soldier like me suddenly became an editor - director of military television, inviting all the great scholars from the anti-French period to the unit to make films, it was no different from a myth.

Painter Van Da was very close to me. Only later did I learn that he was one of the key artists who did the illustrations for the Army Literature Magazine, but when I made the film about him, I thought he was a polymath from before the revolution.

He absolutely did not consider himself a great artist, but only introduced and praised his seniors such as Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Nguyen Phan Chanh, Huynh Van Gam... and said that he was only good at illustrating for his seniors.

A life of sketching

Artist Van Da is famous for his many portrait sketches of President Ho Chi Minh , many of which were solemnly printed on the front page of major newspapers on every anniversary, showing his talent and his sincere heart for the beloved leader of the Vietnamese people. The successful portrayal of portrait sketches of President Ho Chi Minh further shows that the path that artists, including painters, have chosen is consistent, steadfast, and devoted to the great cause of the revolution that has brought freedom and independence to the masses.

Not everyone knows that artist Van Da has painted many portraits of heroes, emulation fighters, and heroic Vietnamese mothers with his own style. Most of those special paintings were given by artist Van Da to the characters and their families.

Respecting the values of blood and bones, respecting the sacrifices that cannot be measured in material terms, Van Da's portraits have contributed to warming, sharing and condensing the artist's affection for those who have contributed their intelligence and blood to the Fatherland and the people.

Few people know that the military career of painter Van Da began early when he was only 17 years old. Van Da was originally from Kim Hoang village, Tho Nam commune, Hoai Duc district, Ha Tay province (old). He resided on Nguyen Khac Hieu street, Truc Bach ward, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi city. From a young age, Van Da studied at Yen Phu school - Thang Long - Hanoi. At the age of 17, he joined the Hanoi Liberation Army. In 1946, he was a student of the 5th military course (Zone II).

During the period of resistance against the French (1947-1951), he worked as a journalist in charge of printing, the Western newspaper of the 52nd Tay Tien Regiment. He was also a comrade-in-arms with poet Quang Dung from the early days of the resistance. Early on, he showed his ability to draw and write on stone skillfully. Together with his teachers Huong Xuan Nhi, Bui Xuan Phai, Ta Ty, Le Quoc Loc, Mai Van Nam... he carried out newspaper and printing work in Inter-zone 3 during the resistance against the French and later took on many positions, but wherever he was and whatever he did, painter Van Da always left behind the respect and love of artists, especially painters.

Artist Van Da is the main illustrator for the Army Literature and Arts. He has a talent for drawing portraits, especially portrait sketches. The portrait sketches that artists admire the most are the portraits of poets Quang Dung, Thu Bon, Vu Cao, Hoang Cam, Chinh Huu and writers Ho Phuong, Tao Mat, Nguyen Khai, Xuan Thieu... I don't know why, but with just a few strokes, the spirit of the writers and poets appears sharp and vivid.

He also gave me some portrait sketches while filming his paintings. For me, those sketches are always precious artistic moments.

Artist Van Da passed away peacefully on March 10, 2008. He was still very lucid when he passed away. A few weeks before his death, I visited him and he still talked about his creative stories and the humorous details of everyday life with his artistic friends.

He also told me to write diligently like his generation who never left the brush for a day. Yet that artist-soldier passed away, mourned by so many people.

Painter Van Da - a multi-talented painter of the military art world who devoted his whole life to creating works on the theme of armed forces and revolutionary war has always been an example of artistic labor, a special type of labor but always humble, simple, and adding color and fragrance to common life.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/hoa-si-van-da-hoa-sac-mau-cho-cuoc-doi-chung-10282420.html