Art Works by Bui Xuan Phai - From The Collection of Van Duong Thanh

ART WORKSBY BUI XUAN PHAI

FROM THE COLLECTION OFVAN DUONG THANH

ART WORKS BY BUI XUAN PHAI FROM THE COLLECTION OF VAN DUONG THANH 1

Edited by JØrn Middelborg

ART WORKSBY BUI XUAN PHAIFROM THE COLLECTION OF

VAN DUONG THANH

ART WORKSBY BUI XUAN PHAIFROM THE COLLECTION OF

VAN DUONG THANHEdited by JØrn Middelborg

2 ART WORKS BY BUI XUAN PHAI FROM THE COLLECTION OF VAN DUONG THANH

Published byThavibu Gallery Co. Ltd.Silom Galleria, Suite 308919/1 Silom Road, Bangkok, 10500, ThailandTel. (662) 266 5454, Fax. (662) 266 5455Email. [email protected], www.thavibu.com

Photography by Songgot Kondee, Thailand and Van Duong Duc Son, Sweden(p. ??) if not otherwise statedLayout by Wanee Tipchindachaikul, Copydesk, ThailandPrinted by Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited, Thailand

Copyright Thavibu Gallery and Van Duong Thanh, 2006All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-974-94951-8-6ISBN-10: 974-94951-8-7


ART WORKSBY BUI XUAN PHAI

FROM THE COLLECTION OFVAN DUONG THANH


Portrait of Bui Xuan Phai, 1988By Van Duong ThanhCharcoal on paper26 x 36 cm


Foreword by Jørn Middelborg 6

Bui Xuan Phai - The Artist of Hanoi by Shireen Naziree 7

Remembering Bui Xuan Phai by Van Duong Thanh 14

The Streets of Hanoi 19

Family 25

Portraits of Van Duong Thanh by Van Duong Duc Son 32

Portraits of Friends and Colleagues 52

Other Portraits 58

Nudes 61

Village Life 64

Celebrations 70

Table of ContentsART WORK BY BUI XUAN PHAI FROM THE COLLECTION OF VAN DUONG THANH


Jørn Middelborg

FOREWORD

Thavibu Gallery is honoured to present works by the Vietnamese master artist Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1988);

all stemming from one private collection. Bui Xuan Phai is often considered the most well known, and

influential of Vietnamese artists in the second half of the 20th century. The works in the catalogue hail from

the private collection of Van Duong Thanh, an artistic soul mate and a respected and accomplished artist

in her own right. These are mostly works on paper - drawings and paintings on a variety of paper media, even

newspaper and pages torn out of books, as paper was hard to come by at times. Most of the works are

portraits. Many of them are of his friends in Hanoi. They are intimate representations by a master who

captured the essence of his models’ personalities with exquisite precision. Works included in the catalogue

were produced in the period 1950-1988. Some have been shown at museum exhibitions, but many of them

have never been seen in public. They clearly have historical value in addition to their artistic attributes.

As all works are summoned from the collection of Van Duong Thanh, the authenticity of the works is

beyond doubt. This is important since copies and counterfeits are now commonplace, some have even

made it to international auctions. By publicizing her collection Van Duong Thanh wants to honour the

memory of Phai, and this catalogue gives first hand information about the man and his art.

The catalogue is the result of a close collaboration between Van Duong Thanh and Thavibu Gallery.

I would like to thank her and Van Duong Duc Son for giving us access to this unique collection and for

sharing Phai’s works with a wider audience.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Shireen Naziree, art historian and independent curator,

who has written the essay on Phai, placing his work in a historical context. She has also been instrumental

in the editing of the catalogue.

Finally, I would like to thank Dorota Pietruszewska for her editing assistance and with her help in finalizing

the catalogue.


Shireen Naziree

BUI XUAN PHAI - THE ARTIST OF HANOI

This catalogue brings together a range of works produced by Bui Xuan Phai in the twenty years of his

friendship with the artist Van Duong Thanh, whom he first met in 1968 when she was a sixteen year old

art student at the Hanoi Fine Arts College. Bui Xuan Phai’s reputation as one of the most prolific modern

painters of Vietnam echoes a practice that informs of serendipitous moments, of free artistic association,

and of purposeful intuition. On that note, there is melancholy - one that tells of an artist’s lament and

tender relationship - to the detail of his art.

Bui Xuan Phai was born on the 1st of September 1920 into a typical Confucian family of Hanoi. His father,

Bui Xuan Ho was educated under the French colonial system, held a number of influential government

posts and instilled the pride of the family’s intellectual reputation in his children. His typically feudal

father, with whom Phai did not share a close relationship, did not favor his lack of interest in following the

medical tradition of his grandfather and uncle, or at the very least become a man of letters - a choice that

would have carried great prestige. However just before his death in 1940, Bui Xuan Ho received news that

Phai, then 20 years old and a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Hanoi had sold his first painting and

that his paintings had been selected for an exhibition in Tokyo, Japan.

The idea of becoming an artist came to Phai early. In his youth he drew cartoons for newspapers and with

the royalties that he earned, he enrolled himself into the introductory course at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts

de l’Indochine. In July 1941 he officially joined the 14th course, together with another artistic icon Nguyen

Tu Nghiem. The principle foundation of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts was to train artists within the traditional

thematic principles encompassing traditional arts. Phai was in constant critique over this identity and

found himself often charged in difficult discourse with the principle instructor of painting, Joseph

Inguimberty who did not advocate the invasion of the Western influences such as Matisse and other modern

European painters of the time into the realm of Vietnamese art. On another level, To Ngoc Van - the noted

Vietnamese art educator at the college encouraged the expansion of expressive realism. Such simulation

of artistic schools became important, for it bound up the spirit of nationhood with a Western aesthetic.


The political turmoil that was to envelope North Vietnam in the following years shaded the balance of art.

When the Japanese ousted the French in 1945, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts was closed down. Culture and

politics would be reworked into becoming mere vehicles for communication of political content, reinforced

under the new leadership of Ho Chi Minh, who in September 1945 became the first leader of a newly

independent North Vietnam. Phai along with other young artists contributed willingly and eagerly to the

political moment of the time by painting portraits of Ho Chi Minh and his comrades during the cultural

week, held in conjunction with the Declaration of Independence.

The celebration of the revolution brought about

a romantic fascination shared by many on the

cultural front, who saw the new political agency

as a positive development that reinforced a

sense of nationalistic collectivity. Bui Xuan Phai

together with Nguyen Tu Nghiem were amongst

the cultural intellectuals who joined the patriotic

resistance exodus from Hanoi into the countryside.

This organization established a new paradigm.

It imposed a shift from the romantic expression-

ism associated with French colonial Indochina,

supplanting it with socialist realism that included

circuiting the new Vietnamese identity with

politically useful propaganda poster art, mostly

dedicated to the revolution.

Given the controlled order of the revolutionary experience, the promise of liberation inspired many artists.

For others, it created an intellectual vacuum. Resisting this model of representation, Phai eventually

returned to Hanoi in 1952 and back to his paternal home at 87 Thuoc Bac Street, together with his wife

whom he had met and married while still attached to the resistance movement.

In 1953, Phai converted part of his small home, which by this time was just a small room, into a studio. This

was open to his artist friends with whom he shared the same challenges of pointing to the true meaning of

art. While many of these artists occupied a variety of positions within the field of art at the time, it was Bui

Bui Xuan Phai, 1986Photo by Do Huan


Xuan Phai who stood astride the threshold of Vietnamese contemporary art more than anyone else.

With a personal history - filled with pathos and weak health, which tracked across several decades until

his death in 1988 - brought about the oeuvre of Bui Xuan Phai, one of the greatest South East Asian

artists of the twentieth century. Unwilling to recognize the conventional boundaries between his art and

the political agency of Ho Chi Minh’s revolution, Phai refused to bow to political culture, instead submitting

himself to the free association of artistic expressionism, which was an integral part of the rhythm of his

life. Though Phai would live most of his life in poverty, he was never distant to the artistic developments

and activities that encompassed Hanoi. This included a short teaching stint at the Hanoi Fine Arts College,

which was re-established in Hanoi in 1955. Though Phai loved teaching, he was asked to resign from his

teaching post, as he obviously did not fit the required revolutionary mould. This incident represented one

of the harshest moments in his life, as he truly loved the artistic interaction with his students. His loss

of income to enabling him to support his family was equally disparaging.

Phai’s return to his artistic roots provided venue for exaggerated attention by the revolutionary govern-

ment, though he himself was totally disinterested in politics or the entanglement of cultural and political

agency. His intellectual dynamism characterized the totality of his artistic activism that is best documented

through his lifelong association with Hanoi’s cultural icons and artists with whom he would spend many

hours discussing or debating the agency of art - often in the small cafes of Hanoi. Together with Nguyen Tu

Nghiem, Duong Bich Lien and Nguyen Sang, Phai constituted the “Four Pillars” - a collective that represented

the demarcation between the French influenced romantic period and the indigenous influenced art.

Phai as an artist understood the intellectual rigor of knowing his subject and that the sensuous practice

of drawing and painting need not be separate activities. Phai’s Hanoi was a city with a painful history that

not only evoked heightening emotions for him, but also allowed him to take in multiple images and ideas.

Well known and well loved by everyone in Hanoi, Phai would roam the narrow streets and alleys

acknowledging every detail and mood of the city with a truly authentic experience. His streets were

characterized with an unusual cool discipline of architectural grid overlapped with the emotions of

romantic landscape painting. Each individual drawing and painting is a beautiful example of Phai’s

draftsmanship as he skillfully re-constructed an art historical vocabulary which captured the spiritual

essence of Hanoi.

1 0 ART WORKS BY BUI XUAN PHAI FROM THE COLLECTION OF VAN DUONG THANH

Installed in horizontal rows, the strength of Phai’s street scenes did not solely rest on his draftsmanship,

but rather in the originality that they produced - although he would often replicate variations on the same

composition: gray brooding vistas at times devoid of life, suggesting both a presence and an absence.

However each image was made unique by subtle differences, subliminally emphasizing the contrast

between the physical reality and the seductiveness of his personal sentiments of sincerity and angst that

continuously swarmed through his art.

However, the casual and charming serenity of his streets provided caustic critique from the officials of

the Communist Party who interpreted Phai’s Hanoi’s streetscapes corrosively. This in turn led to the

questioning of his motives and his identity, despite the fact that he was totally disinterested in politics or for

that matter in anything else other than his art and his family. In Phai’s understanding, his drawings and

paintings of Hanoi meant acknowledging part of his collective self: pointing to what made his life worth

living and to the infinitive love that was his creative core. It was not necessarily an attempt to recreate

anything but more than a scripture of actual place - one that would ultimately be read as profoundly

telling, as if these were physical expressions of his personal solitude and marginal circumstances. For Phai,

the landscape of Hanoi was emotional and by expressing it in a familiar and simple form - it could be

easily understood. But then again, the range of understandability was very complex under the Vietnamese

political climate of the era.

Ironically today - Phai’s Hanoi streetscapes have reached new dimensions of reality. The art-historical

weaving of his imagery continues to be read as the most subtly poetic art. Along with the explosion of

change and the new artistic activity in the altered economic and cultural landscape of modern Vietnam,

reproductions have saturated the art market, often questioning the authenticity of some of his “works”.

In 1957, the Vietnam Fine Arts Association was formed. The Communist Party laid down a policy that

required artists to relocate to the countryside and partake in manual labor together with peasants and

local farmers, with whom they would cohabit. In 1958, Phai was sent to Nam Dinh where he worked in a

carpentry workshop thus acquiring useful skills in making his own frames and easels. It was also in 1958

when his mother Madame Tran Thi Van sold the family home at 87 Thuoc Bac Street and distributed

the proceeds of the sale amongst her children. Phai leased back one room in the house, where he and

his family lived until his death in 1988.

ART WORKS BY BUI XUAN PHAI FROM THE COLLECTION OF VAN DUONG THANH 1 1

There was much to attribute for the visual muscle of Phai’s art. Like many of his fellow artists, he had to

multi-task in order to make ends meet. Drawing and painting allowed Phai to communicate and describe

his world to others and through his regular contributions of newspaper illustrations and cartoons, he not

only supported his family but coaxed many to reap pleasure from his illustrations, often an amalgam of

forms and diagrams as mesmerizing as the narrative itself.

Phai was interested in looking at art from ancient to contemporary as well as from European to

Vietnamese, seeking out truths and how it would impact his creativity. He acknowledged the function

Newspaper drawing, 1984


that art possessed and did not limit himself to any one artistic tradition. Phai was able to enter a similar

level of inspiration whether he designed theatre sets or emulated the traditional style of folk art pointing

to his individual realization that not only impacted his creativity but more importantly extended beyond

his humble ego, which was distinguished by a quiet humanism.

As an artist, Phai was interested in the works of the great European artists and held great admiration for

artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Chagall amongst others. In his diaries, he often acknowledged the

multiple perspectives that these famous artists addressed and thus reminded himself of the critical

importance of the contours of art regardless of his economic circumstances. Without any compromise, Phai

did not allow himself to remain pinned to canvass and good paper but created some of his most monumen-

tal works on newsprint or virtually any surface on which his drawings and paintings could cling. With such

uncompromising determination to negate even the traditional function of materials, he filled his world

with his beloved art - often trading drawings and paintings for needs to sustain his home and family.

Drawing enjoyed a very special and close relationship to Phai’s psyche. Often his primary medium, Phai used

drawing to inscribe the personal, the subjective and the intimate, which allowed his drawings to speak

so powerfully even today. The informality and immediacy with which he addressed his subjects was an

essential part of his creative process. Whereas paintings are often determined about layers covering and

concealing - drawing is about revealing the artist’s emotion at that moment and through it Phai, more than

any artist of his generation, recognized the freedom from historical and critical baggage that drawing

allowed. His free-association with drawing was often exemplified with scrawled images and text culled

from his thoughts of the moment. And through the very simplicity of his drawing materials, which often

was as simple as pencil or paint on newsprint, he created some of his most subtly interesting works.

Throughout his career, Phai explored a dialogue with the human form. His studies of nudes examined the

body with grace and certainly bear the mark of his European art education. But it is through portraiture,

often depicted in small-scale artworks, where Phai found intimacy with his creative vision. His self-portraits

gave form to his varying emotional states through to the allegory of his physical experience. Through the

drawings and sketches of his family and friends, which were rife with classical allusions reminiscent of

the classical genre of classical French Impressionism, Phai formed a pictorial dialogue that was best

understood within the cultural context of his time. Because of his close associations with friends who

shared the same understanding for artistic debates regarding the connection between their cultural and


ideological positions, Phai was never totally isolated in his personal solitude. Drawing permitted him to

capture treasured and tender moments of these friendships, visually striking personal dimensions

that would be captured with simple pencil strokes - at times resonating with sparse accents of color.

Here Phai was able to revel in uncovering the subtle details of his subjects and provided an insight to

the common bonds of their relationships.

Van Duong Thanh first met Bui Xuan Phai in 1968 when she was a sixteen-year-old art student at

the Hanoi Fine Arts College. However, she had admired his art since she was much younger, often saving

clippings of his newspaper illustrations and cartoons. The friendship that developed between them over

the twenty years until his death, originated in art and was built on the intellectual rigor of their shared

love of art. And since relationships were at the heart of Phai’s artistic practice, many of his drawings

originated in his encounters with Van Duong Thanh. Often they encompassed simple gestures and forms

and despite their visual economy, they were always appropriated with a generosity that combined an

acute sense of respect and sincerity. In the same formal dimension of scholarly rigor and inner eye,

Van Duong Thanh often painted and sketched Phai with contemporary concern that echoed his fragile

and gentle demeanor.

By 1982, the Vietnamese Communist Party finally acknowledged that Bui Xuan Phai had never been

politically motivated or involved in any subversive activities and finally accorded him recognition of his

artistic prominence - though by this stage of his life he had resigned himself to a life of poverty and strife,

often subsisting on his wife’s meager salary as a nurse and the generosity of close friends such as Van

Duong Thanh, who would often share her own earnings with Phai and his family with whom she

continues to share a close friendship to this day. After his death in 1988, he was posthumously honored

with the President Ho Chi Minh Medal for his contribution to Vietnam’s art history.

Throughout his life and even now in death Bui Xuan Phai touched the heart and soul of Hanoi through

his art. As Van Duong Thanh related “Phai painted in his heart until his dying breath.”


VAN DUONG THANH

REMEMBERING BUI XUAN PHAI

“How did you know of me?” asked Bui Xuan Phai when we first met in 1968, over tea at the home of

Mr. Sinh Thy. “I enjoy reading Van Nghe” the art and literary newspaper that published your drawings,

which I have saved in an album” I replied. Phai’s touching smile - that moment - sealed a friendship that

would span for over twenty years. In person, Phai was as I had imagined him to be, through his art that

I enjoyed - thin and frail, his long melancholic face accented with a high, sharp nose, his large doleful

eyes brimming with humanity, quietly mirroring the hardship that had been his constant companion.

My own journey with formal art began when I was eleven years old in Hanoi. In 1963, I was accepted to

study at the Hanoi Fine Arts College through the recommendation of the renowned sculptor and art

professor, Diep Minh Chau who had seen my drawings. The following seven years were filled with a

rigorous art education that was modeled on the same curriculum, set out by the Ecole des Beaux-Arts

de l’Indochine where Phai himself once studied. As a student, the works of the classical European

masters fascinated me, but I was equally enamored by the drawings and paintings of Phai. I marveled at

the way he captured the depth and beauty of his subjects, with a few simple strokes and found even his

signature to be unique and alive. My fascination with his art propelled me to forgo meals at times, and to

use my own meager allowance to buy Van Nghe allowing me to feast on his art instead.

87 Thuoc Bac Street is an address that still resounds with respect through Hanoi’s art circles, once the

comfortable patriarchal home and stationery shop of his family. However, Phai and his family were

reduced to living in a room of twenty-four square meters when I first visited their home. After the August

Revolution in 1954, the building was seized by the state, and the rooms leased to some twenty families.

Phai leased back his small room on the dilapidated ground floor, which not only served as his home,

but also as the offices of the People’s Committee.

Hanoi at the time was a city clouded with angst and poverty. Nevertheless, despite the humbleness of

the small dark room that was his abode, the doors to Phai’s home were always open to visitors. Friends


were welcomed along with the dozens of people from all walks of life who sought medical attention

from Madame Phai who worked as a nurse. In order to earn extra money to supplement Phai’s meager

earnings, Madame Phai would administer medical attention to patients from home, after her working

hours at the Vietnam-Cuba hospital. In this small habitat that served as the living quarters for the family

of seven as well as a waiting room for the countless patients and visitors, a small corner of it was

converted into Phai’s studio. This one square meter of space was Phai’s utopia - sparsely furnished with a

low folding chair positioned deep in the corner and a small tea table that was littered with brushes,

palettes and tubes of color - mostly twisted till almost empty.

Devoid of any privacy - in this tiny room, I often sensed the patience with which Phai unselfishly observed

this world of suffering around him. It was touching to feel the stillness with which people would

religiously enter this space and through their own humbleness show respect to the artist. The depth with

which Phai would capture some of these moments of suffering and the kindness with which Madame Phai

would administer medical aid, acquired special meaning through his sketches and drawings that now adorn

the walls of some of the most prestigious museum and private collections.

A quiet and shy man, Phai painted everything that caught his eye with a religious obsession. Because of his

dire economic circumstances, he drew and painted on anything he could find, matchboxes, cardboard,

both sides of a newspaper or at times on the surface of his older paintings. Whether he painted the streets

of Hanoi or the people that encompassed his world, his paintings and drawings were almost always

small, at times even on tiny bits of paper. With his superlative aesthetic, mundane grays and whites came

alive in his works, each rendering a simple line or swift brushstroke which would dance with a passion

and sensitivity that exemplified Phai’s genius, and enriched my world and that of all those around him.

Phai drew much of his strength from the devotion of his wife. Madame Phai belonged to a select generation

of women who, despite the strife of two wars and the personal hardship that included the premature death

of her young son, Bui Ky Anh, nurtured her family with feminine grace and dignity. She had absolute faith in

her husband’s artistic genius and remained stellar in their relationship, especially in the most difficult moments

in which Phai was marginalized by the authorities. Madame Phai generously welcomed Phai’s friends and

welcomed me with warmth into her world, fostering a friendship, which I continue to enjoy until this day.

Phai had many friends, and enjoyed lifelong friendships with Nguyen Tu Nghiem and Nguyen Sang


whom he met when they were students. Together these three artists set an important benchmark for

Vietnamese contemporary art with the works they produced throughout the 1950s. Besides Nguyen Tu

Nghiem and Nguyen Sang, Phai enjoyed a particularly close friendship with Dang Quoc Hung and Dang

Ngoc Bach, both of whom had impeccable taste in art. Bach spent much time in the company of Phai,

Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Nguyen Sang and myself, often assisting us in our studios. Today Dang Ngoc Bach is

regarded as one of Hanoi’s most renowned lacquer painters.

My own friendship with Phai was built on our com-

mon passion for art. Phai painted more than three

hundred portraits of me. I was always a willing model,

enjoying every image that he created regardless of

the mood or character that he captured or portrayed.

In the early 1970’s he painted many versions of

“A Portrait of Van Duong Thanh” which were

featured in the newspapers Van Nghe and Nguoi

Hanoi. Some of them now are in private collections

including that of Duc Minh, the most renowned

Vietnamese art collector of the period, and Nguyen

Van Lam, the owner of the renowned Lam Café.

Lady in Red Blouse was one of the most famous

paintings that Phai painted of me. One evening in

April 1975, Phai together with Sinh Thy had visited my home in Hanoi where they spent some time drinking

strong vodka with my brother Dr Van Anh. Phai, bored with the debate on politics that ensued between

Van Anh and Sinh Thy, came to see me to study my latest paintings instead. In his dazed, somewhat

drunken state, he expressed the desire to paint although it was well past midnight. Thus on a 65 x 55 cm

canvass, Phai captured me brushing my hair. The result was one of his most monumental paintings.

It captured the delicate sophistication of womanhood. A painting that perfectly exemplifies the swift

delicateness with which he could capture the essence of a moment.

I returned the painting to Phai, as I felt it truly belonged to him. He exhibited it in a group show in Hanoi

in October 1975. The Vietnam Fine Arts Museum acquired Lady in Red Blouse for three hundred Dong,

Van Duong Thanh posing for Phai as a model1986, Photo by Nguyet Dieu


and it was not publicly exhibited until sixteen years later, three years after Phai’s death, in an exhibition

titled “Exhibition of Previously not shown Collections of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum.”

Phai willingly shared his intimate knowledge of Hanoi with me; teaching me to love and understand the

city and its people. We spent many afternoons wandering through its streets and sometimes we would

paint together - an activity that often left Phai even more enthused with inspiration. Amongst some of

the significant scenes that he painted during these outings are The Alley by the Tran Quoc Pagoda and

Views of the West Lake, the Literature Tower and Van Mieu Temple. On occasions we would dine on pho

(noodle soup); at small, nondescript cafés and noodle shops, where his presence was always welcomed.

The most famous of the cafés that Phai patronized was the Café Lam.

Now a landmark in Hanoi, Café Lam opened in 1954 at 54 Nguyen Huu Huan Street in the center of

Hanoi, not far from the Red River. The café’s original owner, Nguyen Van Lam, earned renown for his

generous patronage of art. A small, fragile man, clad in typical brown peasant dress, he was not wealthy

and had little education. However, his lack of education belied his talent for recognizing the value of

antiques and artifacts. He was able to identify antiques and porcelain with the intellect and eye of an

archaeologist. Consequently, his collection of antiques and artifacts was rare and valuable. However,

it was his collection of Vietnamese contemporary art that he amassed through his friendship with

Hanoi’s most renowned artists such as Phai for which he is now remembered.

On my first visit to the café with Phai, I was enthralled by his collection of paintings that included rare

works by the Paris based Vietnamese artists such as Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, Vu Cao Dam and Le Thi Luu

as well as works by Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Van Cao, Duong Bich Lien, Ta Ty and of course

Bui Xuan Phai. Though I appreciated the art of these famous artists, I was most touched by Mr Lam’s

collection of Phai’s paintings. They covered the entire spectrum of his artistic career, starting at the time

he left the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Painted on jute, with poor quality oils, the collection included Quan

Chuong Port, Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi’s Resistance Against France and Portraits of Hanoi Ladies. The

second largest Vietnamese collector after the millionaire Duc Minh, Lam’s art collection was largely a

product of his philanthropic nature, and allowing artists to pay for their meals at his café with paintings.

Nguyen Van Lam was honored by being invited to display his art collection at the Louvre in Paris in 1999.

This was a true acknowledgement of his forty-year contribution to the history of Vietnamese Contemporary


Van Duong Thanh withMadame Phai at Phai’s Altarin their house in Hanoi, 2006

Art. Amongst the artworks in this exhibition were those of Nguyen Sang, Nguyen Tu Nghiem and of

course, those of Phai, artists marginalized for their ideals. In 2000, twelve years after his death, Phai was

honored with a solo exhibition entitled “Swedes Meet Phai” at the Swedish Museum of Far Eastern

Antiquities, which I had the privilege of opening together with a former Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam,

Börge Ljungren.

Sadly, Phai had his first solo exhibition in the exhibition hall of the Vietnam Fine Art Association as late as

1984. This was later followed by another exhibition in March 1988 at the Hanoi Fine Arts Association,

showcasing works from private collections. Phai’s exhibition coincided with my own, which was on display

at the same venue. On his visits to my show, he painted me sitting in front of my paintings as well as those

of the noted author and composer, Nguyen Dinh Thi and Van Cao who composed Vietnam’s national

anthem as well as the numerous musical compositions that remain popular today.

It was soon after this exhibition that Phai’s health started failing. In May 1988 together with my sister,

Hong, I visited Phai for the last time. Despite his extreme weakness and inability to talk, his welcome was

as warm as always and in his usual cheerful self enquired after my paintings and forthcoming exhibition.

His only request was to have one of the portraits that I painted of him.

Phai passed away at 2.00am on the 24th of June 1988. Vietnam’s art community and all who knew this

gentle and generous man, who knew kindness and humility, mourned his death with great sorrow.

His funeral, organized by both the

Vietnam Art Association and the

Hanoi Art Association, was held in

the same exhibition venue where we

both held our simultaneous exhibi-

tions. And as a final tribute to Phai, we

carried his coffin through the flower

lined old streets of Hanoi - the city that

he so loved.


THE STREETS OF HANOI

Hang Dau Streetin the Rain1987, 20 x 28 cmOil on CanvasSigned

Phai’s depictions of the streets of Hanoi are legendary. He was enamored by the city’s narrow streets,

which he lovingly reconstructed in his art. Hanoi Street in the Moonlight / Nude, is typically representative

of his visual essays - a simple but strong expression rendered in watercolor. Often lacking materials to

work with, Phai in this case, as in many others, used the reverse of the drawing to sketch a young woman

savoring the moonlight. Another characteristic of Hanoi loved and often documented by Phai is the café

culture of Hanoi. Cha Dong Corner is a place where he and Van Duang Thanh often met for coffee. These

coffee sessions were often predeceased by sessions in which Van Duang Thanh would accompany Phai

to paint. Tomb Stones of Mandarins in Van Mieu Temple is a drawing that Phai executed on one such

excursion. Phai was known to have designed sets for plays The People in My Street created for a

performance staged by Nguyen Bac, a friend of Phai.


Couple by Hoan Kiem Lake, 1987, 20 x 28 cmOil on Canvas Signed


Lan and Phai’s Grandson in Thuoc Bac Street, ca 1970, 16.5 x 24 cmOil on Canvas Signed

Thuoc Bac Street, 1984, 12 x 18 cm Oil on Board Signed


Hang Bac Street, ca 1974, 15 x 19 cmOil on Paper Signed

Hang Thiec Café, 1975, 6 x 9 cmGouache on Paper Box SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities,Stockholm, 2000

Hang Bac Street / Nude, 1963, 13 x 17 cmPen and Pastel / Pencil on Paper

Hang Bac Corner, 1980, 10 x 14.5 cmInk on Paper


Cha Dong Corner, 15.6.1978, 11.5 x 16.5 cmOil and Blue Pen on Paper Signed

Hang Chinh Street, 1972, 10.5 x 15.5 cmOil on Cardboard Signed

Hanoi Street in the Moon Light / Nude, ca 1970, 11 x 16 cmWatercolour / Marker Pen on Paper

Hanoi Street, Undated, 12 x 16.5 cmWatercolour / Marker Pen on Paper


Drawing for the play “The People in My Street” by Nguyen BacUndated, 23 x 39 cm Gouache on Paper Signed

Hang But Street / Dancing Couple, Undated19 x 22.5 cm Black Ink on Paper

Tomb Stones of Mandarins in Van Mieu Temple, 198020 x 28 cm Blue Pen on Paper Signed

Huyen Street and Hanoi Cathedral / Man and Child, ca 197510 x 14.5 cm Pencil and Pen on paper on a Book Page


FAMILY

Madame Phai Readingthe Newspaper5.8.1980, 18 x 27 cmInk on PaperSigned

Throughout his life, Phai remained passionate about his family, who in their everyday movements were

often poignant subjects of his art. Seated Nude (Madame Phai,) is characteristic of his nudes, they were

always of real women, sometimes even mothers filled with experience of life - but never idolized slim

models. Though by 1980 Phai had gained artistic recognition both in Vietnam and abroad and no longer

had difficulty supporting his family - his wife, Madame Phai continued to work as a nurse and would only

relax after her daily chores, typically with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Madame Phai Reading

the Newspaper captures such a moment. A nurse by profession, Madame Phai would supplement the

family income by administering medical aide from home as depicted in Madame Phai Giving an

Injection at Home. Little Lan wearing her School Scarf is a portrait of Phai’s eldest daughter who

inherited her father’s looks and artistic talent, though she would not pursue a career in art. In Y Lan on

Green Background, Phai captured her sensitivity and kindness through his gentle lines and through her

bright and limpid eyes. Madame Phai with Phai’s Mother reflects the bond the two women shared.


Litlle Lan Wearing her School Scarf, 1962, 18 x 25 cmPastel on Paper

Little Tram Sleeping, 1969, 12 x 12 cmBlack and Blue Bic Pens on Paper


Madame Phai with Phai’s Mother, 1952, 8 x 21 cmPencil on Paper

Madame Phai Looking into the Distanceca 1950, 19 x 27 cm Charcoal on Paper

Seated Nude (Madame Phai), ca. 195618 x 25 cm Ink on Paper

Madame Phai Sewing, 1952, 19 x 24 cmPencil on Paper


Madame Phai Pregnant withSecond Child Phuong1956, 17 x 26 cm Pencil on Paper

Madame Phai Holding Son Ky Anh1956, 15.5 x 25 cmPencil on Paper

Madame Phai Giving an Injectionat Home, 1967, 22 x 36 cmBlue Pen on Paper

Madame Phai Pregnant with son Phuong, 1956, 11.5 x 17 cmPen on Paper Signed


Blue Madame Phai, 3.4.1986, 27 x 39 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Bui Ky Anh - Phai’s First Son27.4.1975, 26 x 39 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed

Tram on Blue Background1976, 9 x 12 cmInk and Watercolour on Paper Signed

Lan Knitting scarf for Phai / Van Duong Thanh’s ProfilesUndated, 14.5 x 21.5 cmOil and Pastel / Pen on Cardboard Signed


Baby Lan, 1954, 6.5 x 7.5 cmMarker Pen on PaperSigned Collection of Mme Phai,given to Van Duong Thanh

Y Lan on Green Background20.7.1979, 12 x 18 cmPastel and Watercolour on Paper

Daughter Lan with Phai’s Motherca 1968, 20 x 26.5 cmPastel on Cardboard Signed

Lan and Her First Baby, 2.6.1981, 15 x 17 cmSoft Black Pen and Watercolour on Book Page


Young Son Phuong/Nude, 15.11.1969, 13 x 13.5 cmBlack Pen and Pastel on Paper

Phai’s son Phuong Sleeping1969, 13.5 x 19 cmCuu Long Ink on Paper

Phai’s Son Phuong Working Under the Oil Lamp (War Time)/Van Duong Thanh’sPortrait, 15.8.1975/1969, 13 x 20.5 cmSoft Pen on Paper

Phai’s Son Studying/Portraits, Undated, 13 x 19 cmPen on paper Signed


Bui Xuan Phai and Van Duong Thanh shared a very special friendship and Van Duong Thanh became the

subject of many of Phai’s drawings and paintings. Nguyen Phan Chanh (1892-1984) often commented on

Van Duong Thanh’s classically Vietnamese features. In The Moonlight Lady Phai captured her almond

shaped eyes framed by her round face lit only by the moonlight. During the cold winters of Hanoi,

Van Duong Thanh would wear a headband to keep her warm. It was also during the winter, when Phai

would suffer most from colds and swore that painting was the best remedy for his ailments. It was

during the winter of 1974 when he drew Van Duong Thanh with Polka Dotted Headband. Van Duong

Thanh painted in Japanese style is another portrait which is typical of the simplicity and fluidity of lines

with which Phai was able to capture the moment and personality of his subjects.

Though Van Duong Thanh had been abroad for a number of years, Phai would often draw or paint her

portrait when she returned to Vietnam - though each picture would have its own distinct personality and

though the pose might have been the same as in the past as seen in Van Duong Thanh Clasping Her

Hands. Phai and his friends would often visit her at home, Van Duong Thanh Glancing over her Shoulder,

was drawn during one of Phai’s visits together with the actor and painter, Tran Trung Tin. Van Duong

Thanh wearing a Summer Dress was also painted on one of his visits to her home. It was also the last

large oil painting he painted of her. Both Van Duong Thanh wearing a Pink Blouse and Van Duong

Thanh in Orange Ao Dai Dress are oils on canvas that Phai painted of her on visits to the Van family

home before her departure to live in Europe. Phai would paint on virtually anything he could find.

Van Duong Thanh in Ao Dai Dress by the Hoan Kiem Lake, is one such example and was exhibited at

an exhibition, honoring Phai in Stockholm in 2000.

PORTRAITS OF VAN DUONG THANHVAN DUONG DUC SON


Van Duong Thanh with Pink Cheeks, 16.11.74, 45.5 x 55.5 cmOil on Canvas Signed Exhibited at the Museum of Far EasternAntiquities, Stockholm, 2000


Van Duong Thanh Wearing a Pink Pink Blouse1974, 46 x 51cmOil on Canvas SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities,Stockholm, 2000

Gentleness, 17.11.1974, 50 x 58 cmOil on canvas SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities,Stockholm, 2000


Van Duong Thanh in Orange Ao Dai Dress28.10.1974, 85 x 54 cmOil on Canvas SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities,Stockholm, 2000

Van Duong Thanh wearing a Red Flowered Blouse31.3.1975, 31.5 x 41.5 cmOil on Carton Board Signed


Van Duong Thanh Reading a Book29.12.1974, 34.5 x 54.5 cmOil on Carton Board Signed

Van Duong Thanh Wearing a Summer Dress25.9.1986, 44.5 x 53.5 cmOil on Canvas Signed


Van Duong Thanh inContemplative Mood10.4.1975, 26 x 38 cmSoft Black Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Eyes Closed, 1974, 30 x 40 cmWatercolour on Paper Signed


The Moonlight Lady, 8.12.1974, 25 x 35 cmOil Pastel on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Blue Hair, 8.1.1975, 27 x 38 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Blue Headband, 8.12.1974, 27 x 38 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Headband, Looking Down23.1.1975, 26 x 38 cmBlack Pastel on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh Whispering, 28.10.1974, 21 x 30 cmSoft Black Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Polka Dotted Head Band28.1.1974, 10 x 17 cm Ink on Paper

Van Duong Thanh with Pinned-up Hair24.2.1975, 16 x 20 cmInk and Watercolour on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh in Earth Tones, 8.12.1974, 27 x 35 cmPastel on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh painted in Japanese Style28.8.1978, 14 x 20 cmInk on Paper

Van Duong Thanh in Pastel17.2.1977, 28 x 40 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Portrait of Van Duong Thanh with Phai’s Statementca 1970, 16.5 x 22 cmSoft Blue Pen and Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Long Lashes9.5.1975, 28 x 40 cmBlack Gouache on Brown Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh in Polka Dotted Blouse, 17.10.1978, 28 x 39 cmPencil on Paper Signed

Blue Van Duong Thanh5.7.1983, 20 x 30 cmBlue Pen on paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Looking overher Shoulder, 15.1.1987, 25 x 36 cmMarker Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Crossed Arms15.1.1987, 25 x 35 cmMarker Pen on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh in Ao Dai Dressby the Hoan Kiem Lake1981, 26 x 40 cm (max)Oil on Bamboo Fan SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far EasternAntiquities, Stockholm, 2000


Van Duong Thanh at the New Year(Tet) Flower Market18.1.1985, 29 x 42 cmGouache on newspaper SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far EasternAntiquities, Stockholm, 2000

Van Duong Thanh with Flowers23.1.1982, 28 x 40 cmGouache on Newspaper SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far EasternAntiquities, Stockholm, 2000

Van Duong Thanh inRed Dress Holding Flowers1982, 11 x 15 cmGouache on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh with Black Curls30.1.1983, 29 x 40 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Glancing over her Shoulder20.8.1986, 30 x 42 cmCharcoal on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh wearingPink Scarf28.12.1985, 30 x 41 cmWatercolour on Hand Made PaperSigned

Van Duong Thanh with Pink Lipstickand Kimono, 1984, 22 x 31 cmWatercolour on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Blushing16.4.1988, 30 x 40 cmSoft Coloured Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh WearingPink Headscarf25.12.1985, 21 x 28.5 cmPastel on paperSigned


Van Duong Thanh Reading a Book24.9.1986, 27 x 40 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Drawing Bui Xuan Phai30.1.1988, 30 x 40 cmSoft Coloured Pen on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh withLeopard Patterned Blouse20.8.1986, 29 x 42 cmWatercolour on PaperSigned

Van Duong Thanh inYellow T-Shirt22.8.1986, 29 x 41 cmWatercolour on PaperSigned

Van Duong Thanh inBlue Stripes20.8.1986, 28 x 42 cmWatercolour on PaperSigned

Van Duong ThanhLeaning on one Arm20.8.1986, 28 x 40 cmPastel and Ink on PaperSigned

Van Duong ThanhShedding a Tear20.9.1988, 29 x 40 cmInk and Watercolour on PaperSigned

Van Duong Thanh20.8.1986, 27 x 40 cmInk and Watercolour on PaperSigned


Van Duong Thanh Immersed in Thoughts, 20.8.1986, 29 x 40 cmInk on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Clasping Her Hands, 8.11.1987, 21 x 27 cmInk on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Squinting/Text and Man’s Portrait1984, 20 x 30 cmBlack Pen on Paper

Van Duong Thanh Looking Down, 23.5.1986, 20 x 30 cmBlue Pen on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh Looking Stern23.4.1988, 19 x 28 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Staring, 23.5.1986, 20 x 30 cmBlue Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh, Suspicious23.5.1986, 21 x 30 cmSoft Blue Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with FlowingHair, 23.4.1988, 30 x 40 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh with Curls10.7.1986, 20 x 29 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Head Bowed10.7.1986, 20 x 29 cmSoft Black Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Messy Hair15.1.1985, 25 x 36 cmPen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh with Blue OutlineUndated, 30 x 40 cmSoft Coloured pen on Paper Signed


Van Duong Thanh at Hoan Kiem Lake /Mid-autumn Festival,Hang Main Street), Undated, 16 x 23 cmPencil and Watercolour / Pen on Paper on Book Page

Portrait of Van Duong Thanh and a Man, 24.3.1984, 30 x 40 cmBlue Pen on Paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh Holding Flowers1982, 28.5 x 39.5 cmPen on paper Signed

Van Duong Thanh by Hoan Kiem Lake1985, 22.5 x 34 cmPen on paperIllustration for the HNOI Magazine


Despite his poverty, Phai was highly regarded in art circles, and throughout his life enjoyed lasting

friendships with many renowned artists as well as the many ordinary people who filled his world.

Portrait of Veronique is of a French woman who worked as a nanny at the French Embassy and who

would often visit the Phai home. Portrait of Ms. Thuong is of Phai’s neighbour, who shared the same

house. Portrait of Mr. Niet Niet is another example of Phai’s artistic zeal to paint on any available material.

Mr. Niet remained a close friend to Phai until his death and arranged his funeral. Phai also made drawings

of his artists friends the painters Nguyen Sang and Hoang Tich Chu. In Nguyen Sang Seated and Painting

the artist was painting in Cam Pha Mine, Quang Ninh Province as part of the “education campaign for

artists programme”.

PORTRAITS OF FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES

Le Chinh and Kim Lan (Musician)ca 1982, 10.5 x 13.5 cmChinese Ink and Gouache on PaperSigned


Portrait of Ha Tuong (Photographer)1972, 11.5 x 17 cmCharcoal on Paper

Portrait of Tran Thinh (Film director), 23.4.1988, 29 x 39 cmCharcoal on Paper

Portrait of Thanh Long (Artist)1.1973, 27.5 x 39.5 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed

Portrait of Nguyen Dinh Phuc(Composer), 23.4.1988, 20 x 30 cmSoft Black Pen on Paper Signed


Hoang Tich Chu Painting/Horse, 4.1957, 11 x 16 cmPencil on paper

Nguyen Sang Painting, 1965, 11.5 x 16 cmPencil on Paper Signed

Nguyen Sang Seated and Paintingca 1960, 11.5 x 15.5 cmPencil and blue pen on paper

Portrait of Mr. Vinh (Painter) / Black Cat, 1981, 13 x 18.5 cmWatercolour on Paper


Portrait of Viet Chien (Army Colonel, Retired ca 1970)Undated, 12 x 16.5 cmBlack Pen on Book Page Signed

Portrait of Mr. Niet Niet/ Tram (Phai’s daughter)30.4.1983, 12.5 x 20 cmBlack and Blue Pens on Book Page

Dang Quoc Hungca 1970, 10 x 13.5 cmPen on paper Signed

Portrait of Mr Hung1966, 9.5 x 14.5 cmPencil on Paper


Portrait of Le Chin, Undated, 11 x 18 cmPen on paper

Portrait of Mr. Dam, Undated, 12 x 16 cmBlack Pen on Book Page Signed

Portrait of Le Chin/Nude, Undated, 13 x 18 cmPen on paper on a book page

Portrait of Le Chinh23.6.1975, 18 x 28 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed


Portrait of Ms Thuongca 1980, 13 x 13 cmRed oil and Pastel on Paper Signed

Portrait of VeroniqueUndated, 12 x 21 cmOil on Cardboard Signed

Portrait of Mr Bong’s Daughter23.7.1983, 20 x 28.5 cmCuu Long Ink on Paper Signed

Portrait of Hoang Viet Hang15.4.1984, 22 x 30 cmBlack Pen on Cardboard Signed


OTHER PORTRAITS

Self Portrait, 11.11.1978, 20 x 28 cmBlue Ink on Paper Signed


Portrait of a WomanUndated, 10 x 18 cmPastel on Paper Signed

Two Portraits4.6.1965/2.6.1965, 11.5 x 19 cmPen on Paper

Portrait of Picasso, 1968, 10 x 14 cmBlack Pen on PaperSuch a portrait was not allowedor officially endorsed during this time

A Scandinavian Man Using a Traditional Fan1984, 23 x 31 cmPen on Paper Signed


Portrait of Son17.1.1987, 27 x 38 cmPen on Paper Signed

Little Son Reading10.7.1986, 20 x 29 cmSoft Coloured Pen on Paper Signed

Portrait of an Old Woman20.9.1977, 20.5 x 24.5 cmPencil and Pastel on Paper SignedThe woman used to sell rice toPhai’s family

Portrait of an Unknown Woman1.8.1974, 19 x 28 cmInk on Paper


Phai was renowned for his nude drawings, sketches and paintings. Nude Resting on a Chair appears to

be a model from the Hanoi art school, which was located at 42, Yet Kieu Street. Nude with Tilted Head

was drawn at the home of Nang Hien, another artist friend of Phai’s.

NUDES

Blue Nude, Undated, 37 x 56 cmGouache on PaperPicture no. 140, page 78 in the book Bui XuanPhai, Cuoc, Doi, Va Tac Pham, 1998


Nude with White Scarf / Portrait of an Art Dealer, 8.1.1988, 24 x 30 cmOil and Pastel on Paper / Pencil on Paper Signed

Nude Holding a Mirror, 1985, 24 x 33 cmGouache on Paper Signed

Nude Resting on a Chairca 1960-63, 19 x 27 cmColour Pencil on Paper Signed


Dancing Nude, 1957, 12.5 x 27 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed

Nude with Tilted Head1978, 14 x 21 cmBlue Pen on Paper Signed

Reclining Nude, 1958, 11.5 x 18.5 cmPencil on Paper


Phai, like many artists of his generation, spent time during the resistance in the Vietnamese countryside

where they would often paint and capture the idyllic simplicity of village life in their art. Around 1956-7

Phai was sent by the government to the countryside to depict the lives of workers and peasants. Child

Sucking His Thumb in the village of Chiem Hoa, 1956 was bought by Van Duong Thanh from Madame

Phai after the artist’s demise as the child reminded her of her own childhood growing up in rural

Vietnam. Woman with Protective Headgear/Nude/Old Man/Le Chinh is once again reflective of Phai’s

adept use of material available to him. It was customary to use home made protective headgear during

the war years. Da River is similar to a painting from the permanent collection of the Vietnam Fine Arts

Museum. Mother and Child was another drawing executed during the resistance years. He felt particularly

close to the poor peasants of the Vietnamese countryside and would often capture the scenery with

emotion that mimic the reality of village life.

VILLAGE LIFE

Da River18.1.1979, 37 x 51 cmGouache on Paper SignedSimilar composition and subjectas the oil painting no. 350,page 179 in the book Bui XuanPhai, Cuoc, Doi Va Tac Pham,1998


Child Sucking on His Thumb in the Village of Chiem Hoa1956, 13 x 19 cmPastel on Paper

Woman Wearing a Headcarf, 1956, 10 x 18 cmInk on Paper


A Farmer in Thanh Hoa12.8.1957, 11.5 x 15 cmPencil on Paper

Woman from the Dao Minority1957, 15 x 19.5 cmBlack Pen on Paper Signed

Old Woman in Sai Son Village1957, 12 x 18 cmPencil on Paper

Sai Son Village, 1957, 15 x 20 cmBlack Pencil and Colours Signed


Two Peasants Reading Newspaper/Woman’s Hand, 1956, 12 x 18 cmPen and Chinese ink on paper Two women from Thanh Hoa Province

Mother and Child, 1967,13.5 x 19 cmBlack Pastel and Gouache on Paper

Mother & Child, ca. 1956, 10 x 14 cmMarker Pen on Paper

Woman with Protective Head Gear / Nude / Old Man / Le Chinh, all 1967, 19 x 23 cmAll Pen on Paper on a Book Page


Green Landscape, 17.6.1979, 37 x 62 cmGouache on Paper Signed

Thanh Hoa Village1965, 11.5 x 18.5 cmPencil on Paper

Tran Quoc Pagoda29.10.1987, 20 x 27.5 cmBlack Pen on Paper


Elephant, Undated, 13 x 19 cmBlue Pen on PaperFrom a Grave in Tay Nguyen,an ethnic minority area.

Horse in Cao Bang Province, 1956, 9 x 12 cmBlack Pen on Paper

Ceramic Vase, ca 1970, 12 x 16.5 cmBlack Pen and Pastel on Paper

Cat Sleeping, 1967, 25 x 35 cmBlack Ink Signed


CELEBRATIONS

Festive celebrations feature prominently in Vietnamese culture and Phai would capture the essence of

these events with the same joy that it spelt. Several of the pieces depicted below were exhibited at the

Bui Xuan Phai Exhibition at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden in 2000.

Vietnamese Opera-Trio1974, 28 x 52 cm (max)Oil on Bamboo Fan of Handmade Paper SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 2000


Scene from Mid-autumn Festival1972, 25 x 37 cmWoodblock Print

Signed


Tree Planting Campaign with Uncle Ho, ca 1960, 21 x 27 cmGouache on Cardboard SignedOne of the very few times Phai painted Ho Chi Minh


Year of the Horse, 1978, 14 x 18 cmGouache and Gold Leaf on Handmade PaperExhibited at the Museum of Far EasternAntiquities, Stockholm, 2000

Smiling Cat, 1975, 11 x 19 cm (max)Gouache on Cardboard SignedExhibited at the Museum of FarEastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 2000

Year of the Cat, 1987, 19 x 26 cm Gouache on Paper SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm,2000

Black Kitten, 1987, 18 x 24 cmWatercolour on Paper SignedExhibited at the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities,Stockholm, 2000


Mid-autumn Festival, 10.12.1975, 14 x 19 cmPastel, on Paper

Vietnamese Soldiers welcomed asvictors in 195420.6.1984, 21 x 29.5 cmSoft black pen and colours on paperSigned

Hanoi Liberation Day/Van Duong Thanh Resting20.6.1984, 21 x 29.5 cmPencil on Paper Signed


New Year 1984 with Phai’s Drawing of Flowers,1984, 43 x 57 cmNewspaper Plate


www.thavibu.comThe Silom Galleria, 3rd FloorSuite 308, 919/1 Silom rd.,Bangkok 10500, Thailand

Tel. (662) 266 5454, Fax. (662) 266 5455

Art Works by Bui Xuan Phai - From The Collection of Van Duong Thanh

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