“Doc Mung” (Indian Taro) by late well-known artist Nguyen Gia Tri, which is considered the most beautiful lacquer painting in Vietnam, is housed at the Hanoi-based Vietnam Museum of Art.

Sculptor Nguyen Thien.

The painting is an unforgettable memory for sculptor Nguyen Thien, who brought the painting from Da Lat to Hanoi after the country’s unification in 1975.

It is little known that after Vietnam’s unification on April 30, 1975, late painter and art critic Nguyen Do Cung, the first Director of the Vietnam Art Institute, instructed his coworker, sculptor Nguyen Thien, to go to Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to find and bring the famous “Doc Mung” to Hanoi.

In his small apartment in Thanh Xuan Bac, Hanoi, artist Nguyen Thien, 80, recalled: “After the country’s unification in 1975, I, at that time the chief of the Restoration, Decoration and Exhibition Division of the Vietnam Art Museum, was assigned by the museum’s Director, Mr. Nguyen Do Cung, to find and bring Nguyen Gia Tri’s “Doc Mung” from the villa of Ngo Dinh Diem in Da Lat to Hanoi. I didn’t dare ask the director why he sent only me to Da Lat because I knew that Cung was very prudent. I quietly went to Da Lat to fulfill my mission.

“After several weeks, I arrived in Da Lat. Luckily, architectural works of the old regime were preserved quite well by the local and central authorities. Valuable paintings at villas of officials of the old regime were untouched. I discovered “Doc Mung” at an old villa of a French plantation owner which was used by Ngo Dinh Diem (The president of the Saigon regime) whenever he went to Da Lat to relax.

“Doc Mung” (Indian Taro) by Nguyen Gia Tri, the best lacquer painting of Vietnam.

“At that time, I really admired Mr. Cung’s finesse and I understood why he sent me to Da Lat to seek the painting. Before I left Hanoi, he told me where the painting was and how to recognise it. I still don’t know how Cung knew that the painting was in Da Lat.

“A new difficulty emerged after I found the painting: How do I bring it back to Hanoi safely. Nguyen Gia Tri did the painting in 1939; it comprised eight pieces of 160cmx400cm. I cabled Hanoi to ask for instructions and the director sent a mission led by artist Nguyen Van Y, a senior expert of pottery, the Deputy Director of the Vietnam Art Institute, to Da Lat to find a way to bring the painting back to Hanoi.

“After the country’s unification, transport was very difficult but the painting was transported from Da Lat to Saigon and then Hanoi safely with the assistance of local administrations,” Thien said.

According to Thien, late painter Nguyen Gia Tri graduated from the Indochina Fine Arts College (1931-1936). He is a great master of lacquer, and was the pioneer in using Vietnamese traditional paint in artworks. He is called “The King of Lacquer”.

He is also known as the creator of a new trend of art in Vietnam, with elegant layouts and new thoughts about lacquer art, which were combinations between engraving, printing and new lacquer techniques. He also applied Western drawing structures to create modern, traditional artworks.

“Thieu Nu Trong Vuon” (Girls in Garden) by Nguyen Gia Tri.

Tri’s paintings are displayed at the Vietnam Museum of Art in Hanoi and HCM City. They are recognised as national treasures and not allowed to leave Vietnam.

Along with other famous works like “Dinh Lang Vao Dam” (Communal House in Festival), “Thieu Nu Ben Cay Phu Dung” (Girl beside Hibiscus), “Hoang Hon Tren Song” (Sunset on the River), “Phong Canh Mong Cai” (Mong Cai Landscape), the lacquer work “Thieu Nu Trong Vuon” (Girls in Garden) – “Doc Mung” is honoured by art critics as the best Vietnamese lacquer painting.

Nguyen Gia Triu used traditional Vietnamese red paint, black paint, red-brown paint, gold, silver, and egg shell as the major materials in his lacquer works. These create the splendid, deep, mysterious beauty of “Doc Mung”. This painting is evidence of the significance of lacquer in Vietnamese art and the beginning of Nguyen Gia Tri’s lacquer art.

“Doc Mung” is a large, two-sided painting. On one side is “Doc Mung” and other side is “Thieu Nu Trong Vuon”. The second painting depicts a colourful flower garden in which young girls are playing.

Created 70 years ago, the most beautiful lacquer painting of Vietnam hangs in the Vietnam Museum of Art in Hanoi.

VietNamNet/TNVN