(VNF) - An exhibition entitled “Sun Rising over the Mekong: 50 Years of Vietnamese Painting”, which features iconic painters trained at the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi, will be held by Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art in London this November.

Vinh Phoi, “Notre Dame”, 1962. (Photo courtesy of Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art)

The École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine was founded in 1925 by colleagues of Matisse, and later renamed The Vietnam Fine Arts University.

The works by 31 Vietnamese artists offer an intimate glance into the heady, artistic milieu of Vietnam then and now. Participating artists include Nguyen Tu Nghiem (1922 – 2016), Vinh Phoi (1937 – 2017), Hoang Tich Chu (1912 – 2003), Tran Huu Chat (born 1933), and Phung Pham (born 1934).

Raquelle Azran is a collector and museum curator specializing (since 1991) in Contemporary Vietnamese Fine Art. Museum exhibitions include the Wilfrid Museum, Israel (2002, 2005) and the National Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam (2007).

“A first encounter with Vietnamese paintings evokes surprise as well as delight,” she said. “Familiar media—oil, gouache, and watercolor—join with distinctly Asian motifs and spatial concepts. This unique blend of Eastern and Western sensitivities began in 1925 with the founding of the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Hanoi by the French artist Victor Tardieu, and has continued to inspire the Vietnamese aesthetic tradition.”

Tran Huu Chat, “Highlands Ritual”, 2005. (Photo courtesy of Raquelle Azran Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art)

Stylistic elements of Impressionism, Expressionism, Figurative Art, Cubism, and Fauvism intermingle with purely traditional Vietnamese themes of emotional experiences and spiritual values as represented by the village, the buffalo, and the ancient dances. The juxtaposition of handmade rice paper and traditional lacquer painting with contemporary artistic techniques bridges past, present, and future, and spans the cultural pide of East and West.

Vietnamese Art is defined by its brimming vitality, lush colors, and directness, as well as by its poetic, dreamlike meditativeness. Depending upon the personal message of the artist, the spectator is invited to share in nostalgic memories of the past or to enter a fantasy world of stylized imagery.

“Never confrontational or aggressive, Vietnamese Art is a lyrical, serene and intriguing moment of beauty in time,” she added.

The exhibition will be run until November 9^th./.

VNF