HÀ NỘI — Some 40 sketches by lacquer artist Nguyễn Gia Trí will be displayed at the Việt Nam Fine Arts Museum to mark his 110th birthday on June 26. 

The sketches vary in size, ranging from the smallest measuring 15x11cm to the largest at 67x106cm.

Trí used various materials for lacquer paintings, which is known in Việt Nam as sơn mài, including ball-point pen, charcoal, watercolour, felt-tipped pen, oil on canvas and wax-colour. His sketches depicted landscape, human characters and designs and themes dealing with the national history. 

The 40 sketches have been selected from the collection of the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts. The museum collected these sketches from 1991 to 2010. 

Trí is considered a legend in the history of modern Vietnamese fine arts. Born in the northern province of Hà Tây, he enrolled at the Escole Superieure des Beaux Arts de I’Indochine (Indochina Arts College) in 1929. 

At the college, his talent was noticed by French director Victor Tardieu and his professor, Joseph Inguimberty, early on through his works. Together with his classmates Tô Ngọc Vân, Trần Văn Cẩn and Phạm Hậu, Trí experimented with lacquer resin, thanks to the encouragement and support of Inguimberty. 

Trí developed a special interest in the lacquer technique of painting and devoted most of his time to its research. He graduated from college in 1936 after attending two courses.

. — VNS