Painter Lê Thánh Thư. Photo courtesy of HCM City Fine Arts Association

HCM CITY — Painter Lê Thánh Thư, a leading artist in the fine arts of the South, died on July 16 in HCM City two days after testing positive for COVID-19.

Thư was born in Bình Định Province in 1956. He began his career in 1982 after studying painting on his own. His became quickly famous among art lovers. He first exhibition was organised at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum in 1989.

His paintings featured his love for the country and its people, and left a very strong impression on critics and viewers.

Thư won several top prizes presented by national and international fine arts organisations, including the Việt Nam-Phillip Morris prize in 1996 and 1998, the ASEAN Fine Arts Awards in 1998 and the National Fine Arts Awards in 2005. 

He took part in more than 40 solo and group exhibitions at home and in 20 countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Australia, France and the US. 

His works are collected by Vietnamese and foreigners. Some of them are displayed at fine arts museums in Việt Nam and Singapore.

The painting Vườn Mộng (Dream Garden) by Lê Thánh Thư. He died on July 16 in HCM City two days after testing positive for Sars-CoV-2. Photo from the artist’s Facebook page

Thư’s latest exhibition, Không Gian Sống (The Living Space), was organised at the Phương Mai Gallery in HCM City last year. The event featured 20 abstract paintings in red, black and white. Most of the works highlighted the culture and lifestyle of Saigonese. 

“Thư’s art showed great poetry in praise of life,” said author Mương Mán of the Việt Nam Writers’ Association. — VNS