HCM CITY – A collection of 49 outstanding paintings by Vietnamese contemporary artists are on display in an exhibition at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum.

The “Green and Blue Dream” exhibition showcases works in different materials by 17 veteran artists.

The highlights of the exhibition are five oil paintings by Lê Thanh, 74, who was born in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang, but spent most of his life in HCM City. 

He captured the landscape, daily life and people of HCM City in paintings such as Vương Cung Thánh Đường (Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, HCM City) and Nắng Sài Gòn (Sài Gòn Summer).

The beauty and elegance of Vietnamese women is also featured in Pretty Woman, which is considered as one of Thanh’s most appealing paintings.

Thanh, a graduate of Gia Định Fine Arts College (currently the HCM City University of Fine Arts), painted the work after recovering from a severe illness in 2004.

Speaking at the exhibition’s opening ceremony on Saturday, Thanh said, “The exhibition introduces the best works by outstanding Vietnamese contemporary artists to local and foreign viewers.”

“It also creates a chance for both young and veteran artists to meet and discuss about the arts,” he added.

The exhibition showcases a painting on lotus by 80-year-old artist Nguyễn Thị Tâm.

The artist used white as the major colour and typical shapes on soft silk material to depict the pure, charming and simple beauty of lotus in Sen Trắng Tây Vực (Indian White Lotus).

Tâm, a native of the Mekong Delta province of Tiền Giang, graduated in oil painting at the Gia Định Fine Arts College in 1958. She has 20 single and group exhibitions in Việt Nam and other countries such as France, the US and Germany. 

The collection includes four lacquer paintings, Âm Nhạc (Music), Bến Thuyền (Wharf), Mystery II, and Dũng Mãnh (Strong and Brave), by Hồ Hữu Thụ, 74, who has had exhibitions in France, the US, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia.

Golden Fish, a mix-media painting by Uyên Huy, chairman of the HCM City Fine Arts Association, is among the displayed works.

All exhibits are part of the private collection of art curator Nguyễn Quang Cường, manager of Phương Mai Gallery in District 1.

Cường said, “I have collected over 50 valuable works from many artists in Việt Nam for more than 10 years. And my collection is diversified in subject, style and media.”

The “Green and Blue Dream” exhibition remains open until August 2 at the museum, 97A Phó Đức Chính Street in District 1. VNS