The painting Sắc Thu Hồ Hoàn Kiếm (Fall in Hoàn Kiếm) by Trương Hán Minh, a master in thuỷ mặc (ink&wash) watercolour art.  He died on Tuesday in HCM City. He was 71. Photo from the artist’s facebook

HCM CITY — These days the city has been losing some prominent artists whose names have become attached to the art scene. People’s Artist and painter Trương Hán Minh and veteran film director Tường Lê both died on Tuesday in HCM City.

Artist Minh, a master of thuỷ mặc (ink & wash) wartercolour art, died of cancer. He was 70. Lê died after 10 days of COVID-19 treatment in hospital. He was 58. 

Minh was born in 1951 in Chợ Lớn (Big Market) in HCM City’s District 5. He had more than 60 years of experience in watercolour painting.

His paintings have impressed viewers at home and abroad. He used traditional Chinese ink techniques to portray Vietnamese objects and send messages about love and peace.

He exhibited at many solo and group exhibitions in Việt Nam as well as in Australia, China, France, Malaysia, Japan, Laos and the US. 

Many of his works are collected by Vietnamese and foreign collectors. 

People’s Artist Trương Hán Minh, whose work in watercolour spanned 60 years, has died. He sent more than 200 of his paintings to auctions for charity work for the poor and people with disabilities. Photo courtesy of HCM City Fine Arts Association

He worked for several art schools in the city and in southern provinces, and was chairman of the Fine Arts Cub of Chinese-Vietnamese Artists and a member of the Việt Nam Fine Arts Association.

He organised and sent more than 200 of his paintings to auctions for charity work for poor and disabled children and people.

Minh’s latest exhibition,Thái Mặc Niên Hoa (The Art of Ink and Wash), was organised by the HCM City Fine Arts Association last year. The event featured paintings by Minh and four veteran artists in thuỷ mặc. 

Minh’s works were selected from the artist’s collections from different periods featuring the beauty of Việt Nam and its people. These works portray  people in remote or mountainous areas and children in daily life.  

“Minh’s paintings evoke viewers’ emotions,” said Tiêu Minh Triết, a member of the Fine Arts Cub of Chinese-Vietnamese Artists in District 5.

Film director, cameraman and photographer Tường Lê died after 10 days of COVID-19 treatment in hospital in HCM City. He was 58. Photo from the artist’s facebook

Director Lê was born in Hải Phòng City. He developed his career in HCM City as a film director, cameraman and photographer. 

He worked on many feature films, TV series, short films and documentaries for leading film companies and studios, such as the HCM Television and Vĩnh Long Television. — VNS