The book Hồ Chí Minh in Fine Arts with Vietnamese and English languages aims to popularise President Hồ Chí Minh's life and career through fine arts.

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam National Fine Arts Museum (VNFAM) has released a bilingual English - Vietnamese book entitled Hồ Chí Minh Trong Nghệ Thuật Tạo Hình (Hồ Chí Minh in Fine Arts) to commemorate President Hồ Chí Minh's 135th birthday anniversary on May 19. 

The book contains selected works in the collection of VNFAM featuring 135 works by 97 artists covering paintings, graphics and sculpture. These works show important moments in his life, activities and career of President Hồ Chí Minh, from his youthful days and long efforts to save the country, his time with the people and landscapes from Uncle Hồ's residence and workplace. 

"For Vietnamese artists, President Hồ Chí Minh was a great teacher, who gathered the masses around him," said director Nguyễn Anh Minh at the book launch in Hà Nội on May 17. 

"With love and respect, Vietnamese and international artists have painted and sculpted his portrait, especially during the period shortly before and after his death."

VNFAM director Nguyễn Anh Minh introduces the book 'Hồ Chí Minh in Fine Arts'. VNS Photos Nguyễn Bình

The book has two parts President Hồ Chí Minh - A Source of Inspiration for Artists and Selected Paintings And Statutes.

The first part talks about the life and career of the President, with his likeliness carried in fine art. The second part introduces paintings and sculptures with themes of the President during the war, Uncle Hồ with the people, where the President lived and worked, and how Uncle Hồ lives forever in the nation's cause.

Vietnamese people love and respect the President and many painters and sculptors have imaged President Hồ Chí Minh and many have received awards at National Fine Arts Exhibitions from 1958 to 2000. 

The artists choose a variety of mediums to represent his form, from oil, gouache and watercolour, to prints, engraving or even embroidery, across generations of artists, according to Lương Xuân Đoàn, chairman of Việt Nam Fine Arts Association. 

"The works preserved today are priceless renditions of artists' boundless emotion captured in sacred moments that rarely come in artists' creative lives," Đoàn said. 

The Vietnamese - English translation was a big challenge for the book's creators, because they wanted to fully convey the sacred emotions about the President so that international readers could understand and feel deeply, according to the house director Phạm Trần Long. 

American writer Lady Borton who was responsible for editing the book, expressed her special respect for the tome, saying that each work and the artists' concerns are truly strong feelings dedicated to the great leader of the Vietnamese people.

The book was published by VNFAM, in collaboration with Thế Giới Publishing House, with financial support from VIB Bank. — VNS