HCM CITY— The HCM City Fine Arts Museum yesterday celebrated its 30th anniversary with an exhibition of two collections of paintings by Vietnamese and foreign artists.

The first collection includes 35 paintings in oil, lacquer, silk or watercolour that the museum collected or received from artists and their families from 1987 to 2017.

Japanese artist Oba Shuji donated his lacquer on wood diptych Toledo City featuring the landscape of Toledo, Spain, while Kato Shojiro gave four of his mixed media-on-cotton paintings Mind Forest.

The showcase includes woodcut works of Việt Nam’s landscapes by 76-year-old Trần Nguyên Đán of Hà Nội, who is a known for his woodcuts.

In May, Đán donated all of his paintings to the museum after his solo exhibition at the museum.

Another collection includes 38 paintings and sculptures by artists who were and are members of the museum, such as Hứa Thanh Bình, Hồ Quốc Lệ and Nguyễn Duy Nhựt.

At the anniversary celebration, Trịnh Xuân Yên, the museum’s deputy director, said: “The exhibition is an opportunity for us to review our work in the last 30 years and introduce local and foreign visitors to the museum’s achievements.”

“In future, we will focus on digitising all of our collections, collecting more valuable art and improving conservation and restoration, as well as offering more training for the museum staff,” he added.

The HCM City Fine Arts Museum was established on May 9 in 1989, with three old buildings that cover more than 10,000 square metres in the heart of the city.

The museum keeps 22,000 artefacts of ancient and modern art from Việt Nam and other countries.

Its most precious work is the large lacquer painting Vườn Xuân Trung – Nam – Bắc (Spring Garden in the Centre, South and North) by Nguyễn Gia Trí, a pioneer in the art of lacquer painting in Việt Nam.

In 2013, the painting was recognised as a national heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The museum organises an average of 25-30 local and foreign artists’ exhibitions each year. Last year, it welcomed more than 300,000 Vietnamese and foreign visitors.

Huỳnh Thanh Nhân, director of the city’s Department of Culture and Sports, said: “The museum staff should strive to turn the museum into an attractive destination for art lovers in Việt Nam and abroad.”

The exhibition will be open for two weeks at 97 Phó Đức Chính Street in District 1. — VNS