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The drawings on display, created during the 1940s and throughout the resistance against French colonialism, document everyday life — from urban women before 1945 to landscapes and images of the individuals that the artist encountered while evacuating and during wartime.

These sketches reveal To Ngoc Van’s creative process and stylistic priorities: careful attention to form, fluidity of movement, and the expressive individuality of each subject.

The show in Hanoi also includes works by seven contemporary artists — Kim Bach, Dang Xuan Hoa, Phan Cam Thuong, Duy Hoa, Trieu Phuong, Le Thuy, and Xuan Lam — who represent successive generations of the Indochina Fine Arts School (now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts). Their inclusion commemorates the school’s 100th anniversary.

Curator Le Hoang Nam Phuong, speaking on behalf of the organizers, said this collection of drawings belongs to the private holdings of the Phu Sa Art Foundation and was acquired in 2018 from a Thai collector. “Because To Ngoc Van was both an educator and a seminal artist, we conducted extensive research to assemble a scholarly exhibition that places these sketches in dialogue with works by seven contemporary artists,” Phuong said.

Curator Le Hoang Nam Phuong, representing the organizers. Photo courtesy of organizers

Conceived as an intergenerational dialogue between To Ngoc Van and the contemporary artists, this exhibition highlights selected aspects of each artist’s practice. The organizers note that the contemporary works resonate with Van’s through shared qualities: an economy of means; a humanistic approach to subjectivity; the use of metaphors and symbols; and the employment of simultaneous compositions. These themes unfold across four galleries, illustrating the intimate relationship between form and meaning in To Ngoc Van’s art.

“At first glance, these drawings may seem modest. However, they are not only preparatory sketches that reveal To Ngoc Van’s process, but also important historical documents that capture a turbulent period in Vietnam’s history,” Phuong said.

To Ngoc Van (1906–1954) is a towering figure in Vietnamese fine art — painter, thinker, and educator. He graduated top of his class at the Indochina Fine Arts School (1926–1931) and became known for a strong technique and a sensitive eye for life in early 20th-century Hanoi. Alongside Nguyen Gia Tri, To Tuong Lan, and Tran Van Can, he formed part of Vietnam’s famous “Tri-Van-Lan-Can” quartet.

Renowned as the group’s most accomplished oil painter, To Ngoc Van served as the first principal of the Resistance Artists’ School (1950–1954) and authored influential art criticism essays, including “Buoc dau cua Hoi hoa Viet Nam” (1942), “Hoc hay khong hoc” (1949), and “Nguoi ve” (1950).

The exhibition “Hinh vang vong y” is organized by the Phu Sa Art Foundation in collaboration with the Lan Tinh Foundation. Phu Sa Art Foundation, established in 2023, is a private fund devoted to preserving and promoting Vietnamese fine art from the Indochina era through the post-resistance period. Lan Tinh Foundation, founded in 2021, is a non-profit that supports curatorial, research, and archival work in modern and contemporary Vietnamese art.