Portrait of Vietnamanese businessman and millionaire Phạm Nhật Vượng will be display at Hà Nội Trong Mắt Ai exhibition. — Photo courtesy of the Vietnamese Fine Arts and Cultural Diplomacy Mobilisation Committee

HÀ NỘI — Portraits of artists and businessmen who have made significant contributions to Hà Nội’s culture will be displayed at a special exhibition that will be held in the old French-style village, located on 49 Trần Hưng Đạo Street in Hà Nội from July 5 – 25.

The exhibition, entitled Hà Nội Trong Mắt Ai (Hà Nội Through Whose Eyes) is held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Capital’s Liberation (1954-2024). It is organised by the Vietnamese Fine Arts and Cultural Diplomacy Mobilisation Committee and the People's Committee of Hoàn Kiếm District

According to the organisers, the figures introduced in the exhibition have all contributed to enriching the culture of the capital city, though they might have been born in many different lands. They have made indelible marks on the civilisation of Hà Nội.

"This exhibition aims to honour the representative artists and entrepreneurs who have contributed to creating a new appearance and a new cultural layer of Hà Nội over the past 70 years,” said Đào Thị Liên Hương, head of the Vietnamese Fine Arts and Cultural Diplomacy Mobilisation Committee.

“All of these paintings were created by young artists, each of which represents the artist's own conceptualisation of each individual, creating diversity and richness.”

Among 40 portraits exhibited in Hà Nội Through Whose Eyes are 12 of artists graduating from L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts de L'Indochine (Fine Arts College of Indochina) including Nguyễn Gia Trí, Lê Phổ, Lê Thị Lựu, Mai Chung Thứ, Bùi Xuân Phái, Tô Ngọc Vân and Trần Văn Cẩn. They were painted by young artist Lê Đức Tùng, a lecturer at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts.

Twelve portraits of contemporary artists and writers are on display such as Nguyễn Đình Thi, Phú Quang, Trần Tiến, Phó Đức Phương, Dương Thụ or Xuân Quỳnh. These were painted by artist Hải Kiên, also a lecturer at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts.

Portrait of playwright Lưu Quang Vũ by artist Hải Kiên.

The ever increasing prosperity of Hà Nội has been down to some exemplary entrepreneurs and capitalists since the liberation of the capital and portraits of some of them, including Bạch Thái Bưởi, Nguyễn Sơn Hà, Trịnh Văn Bô, Trương Gia Bình, Phạm Nhật Vượng and Nguyễn Thị Thảo, will also be on show.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition will include an interaction with the filmmaker of the movie of the same name - Hà Nội Trong Mắt Ai  - and a music performance featuring songs about the city performed by famed songwriter Trần Tiến. - VNS