A screenshot photo shows the eight-panel lacquer screen painting 'Thiếu Nữ Trong Vườn' (Young Women in Garden) created in 1939 by painter Nguyễn Gia Trí.

HÀ NỘI — As people nationwide are being asked to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, they are still able to enjoy a valuable collection of art thanks to a virtual tour of the Việt Nam National Fine Arts Museum launched last weekend.

According to the museum’s director Nguyễn Anh Minh, the virtual tour is the effort of a process, from research to development ideas, with the implementation by museum staff with the support of international colleagues and friends from foreign and Vietnamese museums.

“Our newly launched tour is to inspire and spread the love for art and heritage to everyone. At the same time, we also wish to bring the Việt Nam Fine Arts Museum closer to the public,” he said.

The free 3D tour, which is available in both English and Vietnamese, takes visitors to more than 20 different rooms of the museum, showcasing thousands of objects of different periods of time, from pre-history to the Lý-Trần dynasties during from 11th-14th century, the 15th-17th century and during the Later Lê and Mạc dynasties.

Visitors can also learn about modern art from the end of 19th century to 1945, which presents the Western influence, especially the French guidance, and the fine art during Việt Nam’s resistance war against he French from 1945-54.

The tour also reveals a large collection of lacquer paintings – a painting class that has contributed significantly to the country’s fine arts since it was developed in the 1930s under the influence of the Ecole des Beaux Arts d'Indochine (the Indochina Fine Arts College) in Hà Nội.

A 16th-century 'Buddha Statue of One Thousand Arms, One Thousand Eyes' (left). The statue is among the national treasures presented in the virtual tour by the Việt Nam National Fine Arts Museum.

The tour also offers videos presenting two national treasures – the 16th-century 'Buddha Statue of One Thousand Arms, One Thousand Eyes', and the eight-panel lacquer screen painting Thiếu Nữ Trong Vườn (Young Women in Garden) created in 1939 by famous painter Nguyễn Gia Trí (1917-1992), who graduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts and was one of Việt Nam’s great lacquer artists.

Vice President of the Việt Nam Cultural Heritage Association, Lê Thị Minh Lý, said: “The video reveals details about the origin of the painting, its values on aesthetics, history and culture."

"In addition, the intangible heritage value of Vietnamese lacquer is also mentioned in the video. The experience tour is not only for entertainment, but also to gain knowledge about art and history.”

Director of the Centre for Research and Promotion of Cultural Heritage Values, Nguyễn Đức Tăng, said that with the new virtual tour, the Fine Arts Museum had been doing very well in presenting and promoting their art collection to the public. – VNS