Continuing the creative flow about Uncle Ho

Generations of "masters" portraying Uncle Ho

Like many other classes in society, the visual arts community quickly joined the group of artists following Uncle Ho's revolutionary path from the very beginning. A generation of famous artists from the Indochina College of Fine Arts, artists who participated in the resistance war, and talented artists passionately created works about Uncle Ho with all their admiration and deep love, creating many famous works, such as: Uncle Ho in the Viet Bac resistance zone (lacquer, Duong Bich Lien - a work recognized as a National Treasure), President Ho and the children (wood carving, To Ngoc Van), Uncle Ho on a business trip (silk, Nguyen Thu), Uncle Ho doesn't sleep tonight (wood carving, Nguyen Nghia Duyen), Uncle Ho's house in the Presidential Palace (oil painting, Luong Xuan Nhi), Uncle Ho's portrait (oil painting, Tran Van Can), Uncle Ho writes poetry in Pac Bo (sketch, Phan Ke An)...

The first person to paint a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh directly in the vibrant revolutionary atmosphere of Hanoi in October 1945 was Van Giao (1916-1996), one of the first generation of Vietnamese revolutionary painters, who also devoted his entire life to portraying Uncle Ho's image.

Having the opportunity to meet Uncle Ho directly; having lived and painted in the places where Uncle Ho lived and worked such as his hometown of Nghe An, Pac Bo, Cao Bang ...; using the emotional direct drawing method, Van Giao's works about Uncle Ho touched the hearts of many Vietnamese people, leaving a deep impression in the revolutionary fine arts. These are the works: Portrait of President Ho, Uncle Ho writes the Declaration of Independence, Uncle Ho visits his hometown...,

The history of Vietnamese fine arts still records the touching story of a painting of Uncle Ho drawn in blood by a young man from the South after the August Revolution, that was the painter and sculptor Diep Minh Chau (1919-2002). Luckily, he had a small-sized picture of Uncle Ho cut from a newspaper. He kept it carefully in his wallet, placed it in his left breast pocket right next to his heart; from then on, he painted Uncle Ho wherever he went.

Born in Ben Tre, when the resistance war against French colonialism broke out, Diep Minh Chau joined the revolution and wrote about the life and fighting of the people and soldiers of the South. Before that, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the founding of the country on September 2, 1947, he drew blood from his arm and painted a picture of Uncle Ho with three children from the North, Central and South on silk, and sent it to President Ho Chi Minh ; along with heartfelt letters expressing gratitude to "Father Ho" for liberating his art and bringing him to the revolutionary life...

In mid-1950, Diep Minh Chau went to Viet Bac to take up a new assignment. He was fortunate to live close to Uncle Ho, carefully studying his appearance and soul; he devoted all his efforts to finding and expressing, creating a series of typical works, such as Uncle Ho's house on the hill (silk), Uncle Ho working in the Viet Bac stilt house (oil painting), Uncle Ho fishing by the stream (oil painting), Noon sunlight in front of Uncle Ho's house (oil painting).

In particular, he made many statues of Uncle Ho, including a bronze statue of Uncle Ho with children (placed in front of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee headquarters on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Uncle Ho's birthday).

Diep Minh Chau is a sculptor of the first generation of revolutionary sculpture, modern sculpture of Vietnam and is also the only sculptor to be awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize, round 1 (1996) for a group of works with most of them about Uncle Ho: Painting of President Ho and children from the North, Central and South (painted with blood on silk - 1947); Uncle Ho by Lenin stream (plaster - 1980); Uncle Ho with children (bronze statue - 1993).

During the revolutionary journey, the struggle for national liberation and the construction of the country, the image of President Ho Chi Minh has been realistically and vividly portrayed by artists in many genres, with a variety of materials. Although the writing style and creative methods are different, the works all express simplicity, nobility; the shining beauty of his ideology, morality and style.

Continue the creative flow

Following the previous "masters", later generations of artists continued the creative flow about President Ho, but most of them were in the genre of propaganda paintings, printed on machines, created from documents with themes: Uncle Ho with children, soldiers, workers, farmers... It can be seen that in recent times, young authors have not created many works about Uncle Ho, it is difficult because they cannot directly draw Uncle Ho but have to get inspiration from documents, use a lot of graphic language, less visual language,...

In that context, in the field of sculpture, there are still efforts to explore by some young faces, namely sculptors Le Lang Luong, Khong Do Tuyen, lecturers at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts and colleagues.

Le Lang Luong said that he rarely accepts projects to build statues of Uncle Ho if he does not have a suitable and impressive idea. He has participated in many monumental projects about Uncle Ho, some of which have won awards, such as: Uncle Ho's Monument with the ethnic groups of the Central Highlands, Uncle Ho with the ethnic people of Tuyen Quang province..., but the two works that he is most satisfied with are the statue of Uncle Ho at the Kim Lien Relic Site Exhibition Hall, Nam Dan, Nghe An (2021) and the statue of Uncle Ho in Tan Trao, which is under construction and is expected to be completed on August 19.

The work about Uncle Ho in the Kim Lien Relics Gallery is of moderate size (1.9m high), made of bronze. In his life, Uncle Ho visited his hometown twice, the first time in 1957, the second and last time in 1961. When he left, his homeland was still a slave, when he returned, he was the President, a free citizen, and also an old man returning to stand before the family altar but his parents, siblings, and relatives were no longer there. From that special emotion, the author depicts the image of Uncle Ho holding a cigarette with a tearful face and eyes, walking full of pent-up thoughts...

These days, the statue of Uncle Ho in Tan Trao, led by Le Lang Luong, is being urgently constructed and is expected to be placed at the square of the Tan Trao National Special Relic Site, Tuyen Quang Province on August 19, in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Tan Trao National Congress.

The 7.5m high statue (total height 12m) made of bronze depicts Uncle Ho in a special context: Uncle Ho at Na Nua hut in July 1945 - at a time, facing a decisive decision, demonstrating the will and determination of the Party and the nation to carry out the August Revolution to seize power (Uncle Ho told General Vo Nguyen Giap: "Now the favorable opportunity has come, no matter how much sacrifice, even if we have to burn the entire Truong Son range, we must resolutely gain independence..."). During this time, Uncle Ho's health was very weak, it was thought that he would pass away.

The circumstances that created the sculpture corner were interesting but also difficult. With creative inspiration coming from many directions (listening to stories, researching documents, visiting places where Uncle Ho lived, imagining...), the authors finally explored and used a special sculptural language to depict the image of a simple "revolutionary Mr. Ke" with an indigo-dyed shirt, a scarf over his shoulder, thin but still sharp and sharp...

Le Lang Luong shared that the difficulty in making a statue of Uncle Ho is that many people have succeeded before him, so he had to try to find something special, have new creations, and make an impression. And the efforts of him and his colleagues have brought unique and expressive features to the image of Uncle Ho.

According to artist Luong Xuan Doan, Chairman of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association, the country's fine arts are in a period of transition of generations of creators about President Ho; Uncle Ho's statues and monuments continue to flow with efforts to explore and experiment. And recently, the new point of Uncle Ho's statue and monument projects is that the Art Council has the participation of more experts than before; directly selecting and inviting authors with many contributions and good artistic expertise on this topic instead of organizing competitions to choose models as before. Therefore, the works are simpler and more streamlined in terms of procedures and are of better quality.

On the occasion of the 135th anniversary of Uncle Ho's birthday, the statue of Uncle Ho visiting his hometown, made by sculptors Le Lang Luong, Khong Do Tuyen and colleagues, has just been unveiled; located at Lang Sen Stadium, President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Site in Kim Lien Commune, Nam Dan District, Nghe An Province. The large statue (7.9m high) was cast in bronze using modern technology, depicting the image of Uncle Ho simple and full of mood during his visit to his hometown in 1961.

Recently, the Ministry of Public Security has presided over the construction of a number of Uncle Ho statues to give to localities and units. Along with the work Uncle Ho visits his hometown in Nghe An, the Uncle Ho statue in Tan Trao is also being urgently completed to give to Tuyen Quang province on the occasion of August 19, the 80th anniversary of the National Congress of Tan Trao; continue to make a statue of Uncle Ho with the national festival to give to Phu Tho province on the occasion of the Hung King's death anniversary in 2026,...

Monuments to Uncle Ho not only have unique historical, cultural and architectural values, but are also "red addresses" to honor and record his contributions and contribute to educating revolutionary traditions for today's and future generations.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tiep-noi-mach-nguon-sang-tao-ve-bac-post880669.html