To Ngoc Van (1906 – 1954) has been considered as the first generation of Vietnamese painters in the oil painting.
He graduated at the Indochinese Fine Art College, which established by French in 1925 and was a unique art college in Indochina at that time, with the excellent grate. Most of his paintings present Vietnamese ladies with traditional dresses or famous sceneries of North Western Vietnam.
One of the most popular of his paintings is “Thieu nu ben hoa hue” which presents a Vietnamese delicate lady was sitting beside a tuberose vase. This painting has been seen as the most successful in the To Ngoc Van’s carrier and considered as a poverty of Vietnamese nation. But, according to To Ngoc Thanh (Van’s son) this painting was sold to oversea by a Vietnamese painting collector and no one knows where it is now.
Source: www.forums.chotnho.com
Mr Thanh said that he has inherited some other famous paintings from his father such as “The lady with lotus”, “Two ladies with a baby” and they have been carefully kept.
Although he was passed away, but To Ngoc Van’s name and his paintings have presented for a significant part of Vietnamese culture.
Filed under: Art
