Ngyuyen Phan Chanh

Description:

1892-1984
46,5 x 30,5 cm R.
Two women by the river, 1938. Ink and gouache on silk. Signed, dated and stamped lower left. Framed.
Collection of Prof. Dr Hermann Schröder (1902-1991), Aachen, and expanded by his family
The artistwas born in Bat Tien hamlet, Trung Tiet commune, Thach Ha district, Ha Tinh province. Chanh, among the first students of the Indochina College of Fine Arts, now Hanoi University of Fine Arts, was one of the greatest Vietnamese painters of the last century. With a good command of folk art and an intense passion for the art, he was inspired by Eastern art after gaining access to Chinese silk paintings and Japanese silk paintings. He created his own style and techniques for painting on silk. Before he started work, Chanh washed the silk canvas in warm water. When the first layer of colours dried, he washed the painting again before adding new colours until he was satisfied with the work. In 1928, he became the first Vietnamese painter to have a painting reproduced on a postage stamp in France . It was titled Nguoi Di Cay (Transplanters in the Field). After winning a prize for his work in Paris in 1931, he built a career as a lecturer of fine arts. In 1996, he was posthumously awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize, the noblest award for literary and fine-art work in Vietnam . Chanh left about 170 silk paintings and 52 sketches when he died, according to his family. Most of them are stored in museums and private collections throughout the world. His family owns a small number. His work has been displayed in France, Italy, the US, Japan, the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and the former Soviet Union. In 1932, paintings such as O An Quan (Children Playing Games), Rua Rau Cau Ao (Washing Vegetables by a Pond), Len Dong (Mediumship) and Em Be Cho Chim An (Children Feeding Birds) were the first Vietnamese paintings introduced to a French audience in Illustrations magazine. French critics spoke highly of Nguyen Phan Chanh paintings: “Nguyen Phan Chanh had sharp eyes which observe tiny subtle details of Vietnamese people’s daily life”. Although he painted about various topics, he was known for his paintings of ordinary people and popular images in the northern region of Vietnam.