Nguyen Van Binh

(1917-2004)

Countryside Landscape

Footnotes

Provenance
Private Singaporean Collection

Nguyen Van Binh (1917-2004) was a graduate of the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine in Hanoi. Although he was taught by the French and was a great admirer of Impressionist painters, especially the great landscape artist Corot (1796-1875), he realised his style and sentiment in lacquer. He was a known master in this medium and was a lecturer at École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine from 1956-1979, furthering his studies in Moscow from 1961-1963.

Nguyen Van Binh worked as a journalist from 1946 to 1954, utilising his artistic skills to record many dramatic events during the French Indochina War. For example, an untitled work at the British Museum showing a group of Vietnamese soldiers fighting with unseen French troops in a forest setting (acc.no.1999,0630,0.8). 

This idyllic Landscape of the Northern Vietnamese countryside with rolling mountains, rice paddy fields surrounded by golden bamboo, and jade-coloured palms complete with flowing river belies the steely subject of war and resistance.

On closer observation, the figures among the horses carrying sacks of food are in the Vietnamese resistance uniform.