NGUYEN GIA TRI
(1908 - 1993)
Nguyen Gia Tri dominated the field of lacquer painting in Vietnam before 1945. His experiments with lacquer led him to create the best works of the medium in the early 1940s, which include By the Side of Restored Sword Lake and Spring Garden. The world in his paintings appears both real and unreal between layers of lacquer. The paintings typically glisten with a dazzling golden colour that creates a sense of balance, uniformity, rhythm and harmony, and highlights the outlines of human bodies and objects. The surfaces of his paintings are always even, flat and shiny like that of calm water. The different elements in his pictures combine into an entity of clear amber, creating a contrast of exuberance and quiet elegance. Nguyen Gia Tri was at his best in making folding screens depicting scenes of women and landscape.
Born in 1908 in Ha Tay Province and died in 1993 in Ho Chi Minh City
Graduate of the 1931-1936 class of the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine
Recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as one of the ten painters who made the greatest contribution to the development of Vietnamese modern art
Main works: By the Side of Restored Sword Lake (lacquer), Spring Garden (lacquer), and By a Lotus Pond (lacquer).
