BUI XUAN PHAI
(1920-1988)
Bui Xuan Phai's life has been so closely associated with Hanoi that the city's old banyan trees, moss-covered walls, dark red tiled roofs and ancient streets have become the heart and soul of his paintings. So far no other painters have been able to match Phai's talent for revealing the charm of Hanoi's old quarter with his large, dark and nostalgic strokes of the brush; though more recently the outlines of his objects have become thinner and his palette more cheerful as can be found in his 0 Quan Chuong (1983) and Ngo Si Lien Market (1984). Bui Xuan Phai also painted pictures of actors and actresses of the traditional cheo theatre, and the cows, haystacks and graceful country girls of the peaceful countryside. Vietnamese modem painting would be incomplete without Bui Xuan Phai. His influence on later generations of painters can still be felt today.
Born in 1920 Ha Noi and died in 1988
Graduate of the 1941-1946 class of the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts de L’Indochine
Awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for the Literature and Arts in 1996
Main works: Old Street (oil), The Da River (oil, 1980), O Quan Chuong (goauche, 1983), and Before the Performance (oil, 1983).
Biography
