Vietnamese lacquer art flourished during the late period of French colonial rule (1887-1954), creating a new and unique direction for visual art that continues to influence the country’s art to this day. Previously, Vietnamese culture lacked a developed painting tradition from which to draw inspiration; the use of lacquer in painting formed a new and unique medium that could be applied to fresh artistic themes.

1. The Formation and Development of Vietnamese Lacquer Art During the French Colonial Period

In 1925, the arts began to develop rapidly thanks to the establishment of the Indochina College of Fine Arts (L’École Superieure de Beaux Arts d’Indochine, now the Vietnam University of Fine Arts) in Hanoi by two French painters, Victor Tardieu and Joseph Inguimberty. They, along with artists such as Nguyễn Vạn Thọ (Nam Sơn), who was sent to Paris for a year of training, embarked on a mission to educate craftsmen to become true artists and sign their works as independent creative artists.

The training of students at the École in European art styles eventually combined with Asian and indigenous folk art origins, creating a new artistic language. This reflects a rejection of French styles and defines a distinctive Vietnamese artistic language.

The current collection of Vietnamese art at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum reflects the French disdain for traditional Vietnamese art. Despite being rich in material culture and history, many parts of Vietnamese art history seem to connect stylistically with developments and practices in other parts of Asia and beyond.

Lacquer painting, an important part of this collection, initially reflected the aesthetics of modern Western painting but later challenged a simplistic understanding of the dichotomy between indigenous and foreign. This invites a more nuanced understanding of Vietnam’s responses to ideas imported from the West.

2. Adaptation, Integration, and Transformation in the Artistic Styles of Artists during the French Colonial Period

Before the 20th century, Vietnamese painting was very rare, and 20th-century lacquer painters found inspiration from pre-colonial indigenous folk art: woodblock prints, wooden water puppetry, and community architectural decorations in wood. These artistic features were both accepted and rejected by artists and political authorities throughout the century, but they remain evident in today’s art.

Thus, the students of L’École, trained by French teachers in European art styles, began to explore East Asian materials, techniques, and aesthetics, drawing inspiration from Vietnam’s pre-colonial wooden craft traditions. They created a hybrid artistic language to pursue a distinctive artistic voice and language.

In an educational environment that was free yet politically repressed, lacquer painting provided a hybrid vocabulary to pursue a distinctive artistic language and voice. These lacquer works help us understand the political framework and social upheavals that Vietnamese artists experienced in the years leading up to and immediately following the outbreak of war.

The blend of Western and non-Western elements in Vietnamese lacquer painting from 1935 to 1945 contributed to the creation of a new artistic language, reflecting the interaction and response of Vietnamese artists to foreign influences in a complex historical and political context.

At CONCOPENS, all traditional values and innovations through each period are carefully studied, distilled, and applied by artisans to traditional Vietnamese lacquer pens in your hands, a precious gift for special occasions and important people.

Explore the unique traditional Vietnamese lacquer pens crafted by CONCOPENS artisans HERE.

Refer to the original document HERE