Salon Art
Pavement Seafoodery
Clay flowers blossom in Ho Chi Minh City
Welcome to Vietnam Art Gallery's October Newsletter!
Greetings to you all - and with hopes this newsletter finds you in fine form and healthy as a vigorous tiger.
Vietnam in October is particularly beautiful — the weather begins to mellow and gentle down to cooler levels that treat all more kindly. The light also takes on a somewhat more buttery hue that begs to be painted.
Today, I saw an old woman with her paints, canvas and easel set up on the pavement, as bikes and pedestrians whizzed by. "Grandmother, what are you painting today?" I asked, pleased to see my question did not interrupt her work. "I am painting my thanks for this beauty," she said, sweeping her brush in an indicating arc towards the street and buildings "and for the pleasure of another breakfast, another day to walk among this interesting place."
You can't argue with that.
=============== CONTENTS ===============
- Hanoi hankerings: pavement seafoodery Feel like some seafood? Come to the Old Quarter for some fresh flavors. Go >>
- Featured art. This month we feature the art of Phu Nhieu, Minh Phu, and Nghiem Quang Go >>
- The return of "Salon Art" in Hanoi In the past, Hanoi's rich patrons collected paintings and antiques and opened their own art salons. After a period of inactivity, this mode of support is returning. Go >>
- Business is blooming: clay flowers blossom in Ho Chi Minh City Clay flowers bloomed in Ho Chi Minh City just a few years ago, but their ability to retain their luscious beauty has made them increasingly popular with local consumers. Go >>
=== Hanoi hankerings: pavement seafoodery ===
Feel like some seafood? Come to the Old Quarter for some fresh flavors.
In Hanoi this is the closest you are going to get to eating fish and chips by the beach. Substitute fish and chips for crabs and prawns, swap the fine white sand for midget stools and change the sea breeze for motor fumes. There you are. This is street dining in the old quarter: busy, noisy, tasty.
Seafood is the most expensive type of food that you buy in Hanoi and this place is no exception; the price is high but it's worth it. Point at a few crabs (cua), pick out some prawns (tom) and they all get whacked in the wire holder for grilling over the barbeque.
Then with a thin-armed flourish, they're on our table: so hot that we dwell on our Bia Hanoi for a while before we can dig in.
And digging in it is. This is hands-on dining: no room for princesses here. You shell the prawns (close to the biggest I've seen) and rip the crab apart with a combination of crackers, pokers and sheer brute force, chucking the scraps at your feet. The pure white crab meat melts in your mouth, the prawns are succulent, the hard work is worth it. There are a myriad of different sauces for you to choose from, but it's got so much flavor that you don't need them.
Chi Oi, the venerable owner of our food palace, tells us that this place has been open for six years and by the looks of things they are raking in the cash. This joint is popular. She's fifty years old and rules this place with an iron fist. She is a bit shocked that we don't suck out the prawns' heads and disappointed that we don't seem to know that the crab brains and guts are the most delicious part, and so she advises us to gobble them down. A wound to the thumb is mopped up with the moist towels, supplied in plenty.
There are a number of these seafood places on this strip of road. The shops close at night and the restaurants take ownership of the footpath. By day it's shoes, by night it's seafood. It's a cracker.
The Tally (for 4)
3 crabs, 7 humungous prawns, about half a kilo of clams, 4 Bia Hanoi
600,000VND ($37.94 USD)
Where: 41 Hang Thung footpath
Old Quarter
Hanoi
Open evenings until about 10.30pm
==== Featured artists ====
This month we feature the art of three of our favorite artist.
Phu Nhieu - Rose - $800 - more >>
Phu Nhieu captures in still life the aura of simple lotus blooms, and the feeling of hot, moonless nights.
Minh Phu - Phu 2003-10 - $300 - more >>
Minh Phu's beautiful, fertile golds, pinks and reds make us imagine what Hanoi must feel like in the fall, resonating with sounds and smells of home, family, animals, food, planting and most importantly, kite-flying!
Nghiem Quang - To Miss - $160 - more >>
A beautiful woman reclines in the foreground of a work featuring happy musicians. She holds white flowers against her yellow dress.
=== The return of 'salon art' in Hanoi ===
In the past, Hanoi's rich patrons collected paintings and antiques and opened their own art salons. After a period of inactivity, this mode of support is returning
Duc Minh, a portly gent with oodles of business savvy, became famous amongst Hanoians for his hobby: an extensive collection of rare paintings, statues and antiques which he displayed to exclusive audiences in his home.
People with a passion for art would flock to his home, sharing thoughts and conversation surrounded by beautiful works of art that weren't locked away for the viewing pleasure of a few. People still talk of those times and the benefits Duc Minh's salon had for local artists.
In the 1980s, numerous galleries were opened, including the prestigiously named 'Salon Natasha' on Hang Bong Street. Although Salon Natasha is a small gallery, owned by artistic couple Vu Van Tan and Natasha Kraevskia, it provided support for amateur and up-and-coming artists.
Hanoi's fine art market now appears to be surging forward with the birth of famous painter Le Thiet Cuong's gallery, and the phoenix-like rebirth of artist Nguyen Hai Hao's 'Salon des Beaux-Arts' in the city's centre.
These are the healthy signs of a flourishing art trend, running in tandem with the country's new-found wealth.
Le Thiet Cuong is seen as Vietnam's most successful painter. Initially a photographer, he opened a black and white photo gallery in 1990, but it closed soon after opening due to lack of interest.
Cuong then turned to painting, recently renovating and decorating his house as a luxurious salon. Each month, Cuong's salon will hold an art meeting, focusing upon a specific subject. This month, the topic is 'nudes'.
Members already include a long list of Hanoi's beautiful and interesting people: writers, artists, models, philosophers, poets, photographers, musicians and composers.
Along with painting, other arts also are represented. A multi-media exhibition held in September took rice as the theme that showcased the salon's programme of events. Cuong is now planning to exhibit hand written drafts by respected writers Nguyen Huy Thiep and Vu Viet Ha this month.
Dr. Nguyen Hao Hai, a close friend of the late famous painter, Duong Bich Lien, holds an impressive collection by the artist. In the 1970s-1980s, Hai's house became a meeting place for Hanoi's artists, where they shared creations and information.
Unintentionally, it became a 'philosophy and art salon' of the people, and was subsequently named 'Salon des beaux-arts Ha Hoi' with exhibitions in the 1990s by painters such as Duong Bich Lien and Nguyen Gia Tri.
The salon later closed due to the death of some key artists, but mid this year, 'Salon des beaux-art Ha Hoi' began re-decorating, and, according to Dr. Hai, will be re-opened soon.
He became inspired to re-open due to some "interesting signs from young artists". 'Salon des beaux-arts Ha Hoi' will re-appear with a painting exhibition by Tran Anh Quan. Dr. Hai said he would then encourage and support other young artists for a poem-philosophy-painting installation named 'Lady Poet's Death'.
When asked what the salon trend meant for Vietnam's artists, Dr. Hai pointed to a flower growing by the side of the pavement. "Beauty is everywhere," he said, "but if we can encourage it to grow and flourish and be appreciated, then it is beauty shared. No point in fencing off your garden with walls to keep it hidden. Let the light in, is what I think of such things."
Click for our special report on the art and artists of Hanoi.
= Business is blooming: clay flowers blossom in Ho Chi Minh City =
Clay flowers bloomed in Ho Chi Minh City just a few years ago, but their ability to retain their luscious beauty has made them increasingly popular with local consumers.
Made from high quality materials imported from Thailand and Japan, clay flowers are much more expensive than the real thing.
"Since the natural beauty of this kind of flower is eternal, clay flowers are also priced much higher than the dried version or those made from plastic, paper and cloth," said Do Minh Phuong, the owner of Hanaya Florist in Ho Chi Minh City, who has spent five years making them.
Phuong explained the labour-intensive and time consuming process involved in producing clay flowers. The clay must be rolled, moulded, dried, painted and fired over a period of several days. "After pressing the coloured clay into a flower mould by hand, my team of artisans reform the clay petals, giving each flower its own unique shape," she said.
Phuong added that only professionals were able to achieve life-like results, because "They know how to put their soul into their job. To be successful in this art one needs patience, creativity and passion," she smiled.
Due to overseas interest in the beauty of her flowers, Phuong has begun exporting to America, and business is b(l)ooming! She believes that foreign customers enjoy clay flowers made by Vietnamese artisans because "Through the flowers, they discover a part of the country's culture and lifestyle."
Another woman in the business, Nguyen Thuy Van, said "Courses in clay flower-making run by shops and cultural houses have attracted many local women and foreign visitors. Many of them believe that making flowers can bring joy to people's lives."
"Whenever I feel down, I design a clay flower pot for my room. Looking at flowers I made with my own hands touches my soul and makes me feel better," said one young woman attending a clay flower-making course.
Thank you for reading! We wish you peace and good fortune for the coming month!
============== Artist Roster ==============
Our database of up-and-coming artists has doubled in the last few months and we now have over 850 original art pieces in our database -- one of the largest virtual galleries on the Internet! Here's a rundown on the artists you'll find in our pages. Think you can pick the next Bui Xuan Phai?
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