50 Years of Modern Vietnamese Paintings: 1925-75

Food, fashion, and miscellaneous goods from Vietnam have recently attracted many tourists from Japan. Vietnamese art, however, has been known to a limited number of people in Japan. This is the first exhibition featuring 98 works of art from the country, uncovering the turbulent half-century of Vietnamese modern art.

Before the 18th century, Vietnam was under the large influence of China and India. Later, in the 19th century, the country was colonized by France, followed by drastic upheavals during the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War. Meanwhile, the Indochina School of Fine Arts was founded in 1925, as the first art school across Southeast Asia. Since then, Vietnamese painters have embarked on creating unprecedented worlds of expression using traditional materials, such as lacquer and silk, while also studying French art. Modern and sophisticated exquisiteness that embodies the unique Petite-Paris of the Orient, and a courageous spirit confronting foreign powers coexist in their works, unfolding a distinctive world of painting through their excellent artistic quality and unique charms, which are widely appealing to the public.

Works on display include collections from primary art museums in Vietnam, such as the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum and Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, along with collections from the Ministry of Culture and Information in Vietnam and FAAM, ranging from oil painting, silk painting, lacquer painting, and wood prints.