Collector and literary critic Thuy Khue (R) has donated paintings by female artist Le Thi Luu to the HCM City Fine Arts Museum. (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The HCMCity Fine Arts Museum is hosting a permanent exhibition showcasing work byfemale painter Le Thi Luu, the first Vietnamese woman to graduate from IndochinaFine Arts College (now the Hanoi Fine Arts University).
The “Le Thi Luu - An Tuong Hoang Hon” (Le Thi Luu – Twilight Impression)exhibition features 27 of Luu’s silk paintings, two photographs of her works,two sketches and a painting by her husband, painter Ngo The Tan.
All paintings were given to the museum by Tan, Luu’s nephew Le Tat Luyen andhis wife Thuy Khue in Paris this year.
“Luu’s paintings have returned to their rightful place after a half century ofbeing kept abroad. So Vietnamese and foreigners have a chance to see them,”said collector Khue.
Nguyen Kim Phien, the museum’s deputy director, said the paintings were createdfrom 1940 to 1988 when she lived and worked in France.
"These paintings not only carry significant meaning in culture, historyand society, but also reflect the development of Vietnamese modern art at thebeginning of the 20th century," Phien said.
Despite living in France, Luu retained a deep love for her country. Her themesalways focused on the country’s landscape and people and children, especiallygirls and young women.
The highlights of her collection at the exhibition include Me DiuCon (Mother Carrying Baby on Her Back), Ba Me Con Qua Phu (AWidow and Her Children), and Son Nu (Mountain Girl).
In addition, Luu’s paintings also feature landscapes and people of places whereshe had travelled, like the Portrait of a GuinéeMan and Landscape of Puy de Dôme, Auvergne Region.
Khue, a literary critic, said that Luu’s paintings reflected two opposites,femininity and romance, and fierceness and sharpness.
Khue wrote in her book Le Thi Luu - An Tuong Hoang Hon that Le Thi Luu’ssilk paintings are “different from those of other artists. Her paintings aremore colorful, like oil paintings, but the colors are not shining, so somepeople mistake them for pastels.”
“In her early period, Le Thi Luu’s style and topics were similar to oldpaintings, but afterward they were similar to Modigliani. For a while, it wasinfluenced by Impressionists such as Renoir, Bonnard and others,” Khue wrote inher book, published by the HCM City General Publishing House.
The book is about Luu’s career and life, and Vietnamese arts in the 20thcentury. It also showcases her paintings.
Luu was born in 1911 in the northern province of Bac Ninh and was educated inHanoi.
She began studying at the Indochina Fine Art College in 1927 and graduated in1932.
She taught drawing in Hanoi from 1933 to 1934 andfrom 1938 to 1939, and in Sai Gon (now HCM City) from 1935 to 1937.
In 1940, she moved to France where she had several exhibitions from 1954 to1971.
She worked as a professor at many arts schools, including the Lycee Corot in1962 and Lycee Rodin and Lycee d’Orsay in 1963.
Luu died in 1988 in France at the age of 77.
Visitors can see Luu’s paintings at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street at the HCM CityFine Arts Museum in District 1.-VNS/VNA
In 1940, she moved to France where she had several exhibitions from 1954 to1971.
She worked as a professor at many arts schools, including the Lycee Corot in1962 and Lycee Rodin and Lycee d’Orsay in 1963.
Luu died in 1988 in France at the age of 77.
Visitors can see Luu’s paintings at 97A Pho Duc Chinh Street at the HCM CityFine Arts Museum in District 1.-VNS/VNA
VNA