A painting of  President Hồ Chí Minh by painter Thái Hòa

HÀ NỘI — A solo exhibition of painter Thái Hòa showing his respect for President Hồ Chí Minh kicked off on Saturday in Hà Nội.

To commemorate President Hồ’s birthday on May 19, 1890, the exhibition Remembering Uncle Hồ in May includes nearly 20 oil paintings featuring the leader while he was working, meeting people, telling children stories and visiting soldiers.

The artworks were selected from a collection of 100 paintings by Hòa.

Hòa was born in 1955 in Hà Nội and graduated from the Surikov Art Institute in the Soviet Union (now the Moscow State Academic Art Institute). He focused on painting President Hồ five years ago, when he retired.  

“With the respect and love for Uncle Hồ, I have created many sketches and paintings of the leader,” said Hòa.

Hòa said that he had a chance to meet President Hồ many times and those memories are imprinted deeply on Hòa’s mind.

“It’s a pride of my family when Uncle Hồ named my father as Thái Thành which means big success,” Hòa said.

“Uncle Hồ often visited my father’s office at the Department of Arts (now known as the Department of Performing Arts) and the artists at Mai Dịch residential area where my house is located, each time he came, I always tried to elbow others out of the way to see Uncle Hồ clearly.”

“As I was a boy, people always let me stand at the front. He always had many sweets to give children he met, it’s magic for kids like us, as sweets were very rare and precious at that time.”

Painter Thái Hòa (right) talks about his works at the opening ceremony. VNS Photo Minh Thu

Then his family moved to the campus of artists at the Việt Nam University of Fine Arts where Hòa learned from painter/sculptor Diệp Minh Châu (1919-2002) who created many artworks of President Hồ. Hòa admitted that he has many paintings inspired by Châu’s works.

“Apart from memories and truthful emotions when I was a child, I consulted many books, newspapers, photos and paintings of Uncle Hồ to develop my own paintings,” he said.

Painter Nguyễn Khương said the artworks reflect the great personality and soul of the leader in daily moments.

“Many painters find inspiration from Uncle Hồ and through Hòa’s paintings, we can feel the love and respect to the President.”

The exhibition will run for five days at La Casa Hotel, 17 Phạm Đình Hổ Street, Hà Nội. — VNS