Some of the outstanding 136 selected drawings are displayed at the exhibition. VNS Photos Mai Phương

HÀ NỘI — An exhibition showcasing outstanding drawings and sculptures created through generations of students’ research at the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts (VNUFA) has opened at the university’s museum in the heart of Hà Nội.

The event celebrates the 100th anniversary of the university’s founding, originally established as the Indochina School of Fine Arts, or École des Beaux Arts de l’Indochine. It offers VNUFA students a chance to look back and honour the institution’s long-standing tradition of study and training, while highlighting the core disciplines of drawing and sculpture, according to a university statement.

Viewers are interested in the works at the exhibition. Various materials such as pencil, sanguine pencil, charcoal, ink, watercolour, gouache on paper and oil on canvas have been used to create the works.

An outstanding selection of 136 graphical research works is displayed at the exhibition which opened on September 9 and runs until September 18 . They have been chosen from a wide range of students' graduate and archived works that were evaluated as excellent during the learning process in intermediate, college and junior high school courses from the 1950s, 1960s and the following decades until recent years.

Various materials such as pencil, sanguine pencil, charcoal, ink, watercolour, gouache on paper and oil on canvas are used to create the works, meeting all technical and aesthetic requirements of each major of training, including Painting, Graphics, Graphic Design and Fine Arts Pedagogy.

For the major of Sculpture, the exhibited works focus on research into portraits, busts and full-body forms.

Dr Đặng Thị Phong Lan, Principal of VNUFA, said drawing and sculpture are core subjects that take up a lot of time in VNUFA's training programmes. In-depth and systematic training in the subjects, following the tradition of the Indochina College of Fine Arts, has created a solid professional foundation of knowledge for many generations of students. This is also VNUFA's strength in basic shaping art training.

One of the works displayed at the exhibition.

According to Lan, research on drawing and sculpture shows that the ability to observe, research, perceive and express by VNUFA’s generations of students has not only reached a mastery level but is also 'full of aesthetics.'

“With the same object but through the perception of each person in their research, it is expressed using a variety of techniques and with styles full of structure and characteristics in space and light," said Lan. "Studies in drawing and sculpture are solid foundations of knowledge about shaping arts, helping artists open up emotional sources for creativity in any form of fine arts, from modern to contemporary.”

One of the works among the good studies that are still intact from recent years, such as those on real proportions, portraits and busts.

Meanwhile, sculptor Đoàn Văn Bằng, head of the university's Sculpture Faculty, said the exhibition provides a 'comprehensive overview' of the basic training subjects at VNUFA.

“Especially for the sculpture sector, research articles are more difficult to preserve than paintings due to many objective conditions, so in this exhibition, we only present some good studies that are still intact from recent years, such as those on real proportions, portraits and busts," said Bằng. "There is also a view that drawing training is now outdated, but in reality, any creation, whether modern or contemporary, if it is not solid in drawing—the core foundation—it is difficult to have good works.”

The teacher highlighted that the Sculpture Faculty has maintained this fundamental research training viewpoint for many years, saying it is proof that generations of lecturers as well as contemporary sculptors who graduated from the faculty have made significant contributions to Vietnamese fine arts today.

A typical sculpture is displayed at the exhibition. For the major of Sculpture, the works focus on research into portraits, busts, and full-body forms.Photo courtesy of the VNUFA

Head of VNUFA’s Faculty of Drawing Artist Trần Hoàng Sơn said drawing is originally regarded as the foundation in traditional fine arts training, focusing on the study of human body structure, proportion, shape and light. However, in the context of contemporary art, it is no longer limited to realistically reproducing objects but has expanded to many new directions of expression, combining materials and concepts to reflect modern creative thinking.

“Contemporary art is closely linked to modern society, where creative freedom and personalisation are promoted. The outstanding features of this context include diversity and intersectorality; thus, if we look further, we can find that drawing is not only present in traditional painting but also in design, illustration, fashion, Game Art, NFT (Non-Fungible Token) and performance art,” he said.

Nowadays, under the influence of digital technology, the emergence of digital tools, drawing software, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted posing, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have changed the way of learning and practising drawing, according to Sơn.

Drawing holds an important position in art training and practice at the VNUFA.

“There has been a shift in aesthetic thinking from standards and academics to personal expression and ideas. Although contemporary art encourages innovation, drawing holds an important position in art training and practice," said Sơn. "It is the key foundation for artists to understand the structure and language of shaping art to transform their creations. Drawing is a tool for visual art research, not only serving to express reality but also to analyse the characters’ bodies and explore their movements, expressions and psychology.”

The study of drawing and figurative sculpture has been associated with all generations of teachers and students at VNUFA, located at 42 Yết Kiêu Street in Hà Nội, since the time of the Indochina School of Fine Arts, said the VNUFA statement.  

A drawing work created by VNUFA students in 1962.

To this day, despite a boom in the high technological revolution with the appearance of various equipment including digital cameras, 3D printing and even AI technology having had a significant impact on the awareness and research capacity of fine art learners and creators, this exhibition once again affirms the essential role of the subject of drawing and research sculpture for fine art training in general and of VNUFA in particular, the statement said.

Not only that, drawing and figurative sculpture have become among the most important subjects and occupy a significant amount of time in art training. They are not only scientific research methods for the human body but also considered an essential foundation for the development of skills and aesthetics in the plastic arts.

The curriculum for drawing and figurative sculpture at VNUFA is currently structured to meet scientific requirements and be relevant to each training major.

Despite adjustments in study and research time, these subjects are always highly regarded in all training majors at VNUFA, making it an attractive challenge for students, trainees and those seeking to pass the annual entrance exam, according to a press release from VNUFA. VNS