KVT – at the Fine Arts Museum
A retro retro at FAM
The exhibition (which closes on Fri 06 Mar) in the free gallery at the Fine Arts Museum is worthwhile catching.
It’s a retrospective of the work of Nguyen Van Chung who is the ex director of the gallery. The work on show, though not installed as well as it might have been, takes the viewer on a journey through a respected Vietnamese artist’s figurative work from the years of the American War to the present. The war time pen and ink and watercolor drawings are lovely and youthfully vibrant. The almost pastel revolutionary themed pieces are interesting but it’s the oil portraits that I particularly enjoyed. Many of these together with a few of the still life oils would fit comfortably in any of the retro, pre 60’s, figurative exhibitions popular in public galleries in Western countries.
My particular favorite piece is the small festival painting with two figures at a temple, one kneeling near an incense burner. It swirls joyously.
| National Museum of Fine Arts 66 Nguyễn Thái Học, Hà Nội http://www.vnfineartsmuseum.org.vn/English/gioithieu.asp |
| Not a reviewer, not a critic, “Kiếm Văn Tìm” is an interested, impartial and informed observer and connoisseur of the Hanoi art scene who offers highly opinionated remarks and is part of the long and venerable tradition of anonymous correspondents. Please add your thoughts in the comment field below. |
