VNFAM Director Nguyễn Anh Minh. — VNS Photo Nguyễn Bình

The Việt Nam Fine Arts Association has recently presented nearly 1,000 artworks to Việt Nam Fine Arts Museum (VNFAM). The collection is estimated to be valued at hundreds of billions of Vietnamese đồng.

Việt Nam News reporter Nguyễn Bình interviews VNFAM Director Nguyễn Anh Minh about the donated artworks and preservation at the museum.

How significant is the acquisition of such a large number of artworks for the museum?

This marks a historic milestone for both the association and VNFAM. It is also an invaluable gift from the association entrusting the museum with a new mission in preserving and promoting the nation’s fine arts heritage.

For that reason, this handover is significant not just historically, but also in terms of value. Based on preliminary assessments and comparisons with current market prices, the total monetary value of this collection is extremely substantial. However, the worth of these works extends far beyond their market price, encompassing historical, artistic and cultural values, which continue to grow over time.

This means that VNFAM bears a profound responsibility to preserve and promote this collection in the years ahead. We are deeply grateful to generations of artists who created these works and to successive leaders of the association, who safeguarded the collection until today.

We wish to express our special appreciation to the association's President Lương Xuân Đoàn for making a timely and historically significant decision.

The transfer of such a large collection is not merely a professional exchange between two units. It carries deep significance for the preservation and promotion of artistic value through proper storage and conservation under standard conditions, helping to extend the lifespan of the artworks.

These important works will soon be studied, curated and presented to the public both domestically and internationally, enriching the nation's heritage and contributing to aesthetic education for future generations.

Once housed at the museum, the works will be preserved under standard conditions, while undergoing some careful restoration.

Could you tell us about the newly donated works?

Selected from the association's collection, the works include paintings, graphic art, sculptures and ceramics. The themes and artistic forms are highly diverse, reflecting the development of fine arts in Việt Nam over several decades.

These works are the result of creative efforts from multiple generations of artists across various genres and materials. Their distinctive artistic and historical values offer evocative reflections of social life as well as the formation, evolution and development of contemporary Vietnamese fine arts.

Each piece reveals a strong spirit of artistic exploration and experimentation, highlighting the interplay between traditional identity and contemporary creative thinking.

They can be divided into three groups, clearly illustrating the development of modern art in Việt Nam.

The first group consists of dissemination posters and satirical drawings dating from the 1950s, closely associated with key historical periods in the country. These works vividly depict labour, reconstruction in the North and the struggle for national independence and reunification. Many were created by artists trained at the Indochina College of Fine Arts, and carry exceptional artistic value.

Next are modern paintings and sculptures by leading artists from different generations, from those shaped by their wartime experiences and the post-war reconstruction period to contemporary practitioners. These works significantly enrich the museum’s collection of modern Vietnamese art, reflecting historical progression and the continuous development of the nation’s fine arts.

The last group includes international graphic artworks, which complement the museum’s collection from international artists. These works reflect the recent openness and integration representing the outcomes of cultural and artistic exchanges between Việt Nam and international partners over many years.

Could you introduce us to the storage and conservation process for these artworks at the museum?

At present, the museum faces numerous challenges in collecting works of art. While the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has supported our efforts, annual funding for acquisitions remains modest compared to the rapid growth of the contemporary art market.

The need to preserve today’s artistic value as heritage for future generations is urgent, yet practical conditions remain limited.

Managing conservation for such a large volume of works is particularly challenging. Moreover, some pieces, especially the oil paintings, have already suffered damage.

We are faced with a massive volume of work, including classifying and cleaning the art, building comprehensive collection files and meeting with artists to discuss the conceptual background of their creations.

Under the association’s ownership, these were simply works of art. But now that they have been transferred to the museum, they have become museum objects, which require more complete data to potentially present to visitors.

Many of the works have only basic information attached to them, such as the title, artist's name and year of creation. Completing a full dossier for each piece will take time, often involving direct engagement with artists or their families.

Fortunately, the museum has data on more than half of the donated works and the artists as well.

VNFAM will expand to a new centre on Hoàng Cầu Street for contemporary fine arts. Once completed in the next few years, this newly acquired collection will form the core foundation for exhibitions at this centre.

We are committed to preserving these works under the highest standards meeting both the museum’s existing requirements and international standards at the new centre. — VNS