Vietnamese paintings

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The photos in this blog were taken in Hanoi and other cities of Vietnam. There are some pictures of Hanoi and northern Vietnam, for example, Hàng Đào street in 1926 with the rail line and tram-car, tube houses in Hanoi's Old Quarter, cyclos, lotus flowers, countryside landscapes, Vietnamese girls wearing traditional dresses, Hoàn Kiếm lake in Hanoi's center, markets in some northern villages and ethnic minority women etc.

Some portrait pictures are drawn with black pencils, which we call "Vẽ truyền thần", while other paintings are made of stone, rice, natural leaves, sand, lacquerware, mother-of-pearl, and embroidered with hands. These paintings are for sale or display at a handicraft exhibition, or for decoration at the hotels. Sometimes I present small paintings to my foreign friends. In many cases, I choose a wooden painting of Vietnamese girls wearing our traditional dresses and conical hats, or a ceramic painting of Hanoi's Old Quarter. I think they are typical symbols of Hanoi and Vietnam.

On my trip to Hội An town in Central Vietnam (February 2011), I found special pictures made from bird/chicken feather and small sea snails. In this blog you can find various types of paintings in Vietnam as follows:

1. Tranh sơn dầu: oil paintings

2. Tranh sơn mài: lacquerware paintings

3. Tranh khảm trai: mother-of-pearl pictures

4. Truyền thần: portrait pictures drawn with black pencils

5. Tranh thêu: hand embroidered pictures

6. Tranh đá quý: gemstone pictures

7. Tranh lá: natural leaf pictures

8. Tranh ốc biển: sea snail pictures

9. Tranh lông gà: feather pictures

10. Tranh cát: sand pictures

11. Tranh hạt gạo: rice pictures

In Hanoi, there are many galleries along Hàng Gai, Hàng Trống and Tràng Tiền streets, where you can buy great paintings. Certainly, they are more expensive, as the shops are located at the main tourist area and the shop rental at those areas is very expensive. In addition, they are the paintings of better quality.

More paintings can be seen at the Museum of Fine Arts (Viện Bảo tàng Mỹ thuật) on Nguyễn Thái Học street in Hanoi. I've seen on TV some foreigners attending a course at Hanoi University of Fine Arts (Trường Đại học Mỹ thuật Hà Nội) on Yết Kiêu street where they learn how to make special paintings of the Vietnamese arts like lacquerware paintings (tranh sơn mài), oil paintings (tranh sơn dầu) etc.

Please also view my other blogs about the woodblock and ceramic tile paintings in northern Vietnam:

Đông Hồ woodblock paintings

Tranh gốm (ceramic tile paintings)

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Photos

Painting of Vietnamese girls
Inside the boat to cruise Sài Gòn river

Rice picture (One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi)
It was sold in an auction in Sài Gòn.

Painting from Huế city
It was sold on a tourist boat while cruising the Perfume River.

Stone picture
At the handicraft exhibition in Hanoi - August 2009.

Pictures made from feather (Hội An)
Tranh lông gà - Pictures made from bird/chicken feather

Painting at an exhibition in Đà Lạt city

Hạ Long bay (UNESCO World Heritage site)
Hand embroidered picture of Hạ Long Bay at the handicraft exhibition in Hanoi - August 2009.

Painting from Huế city
It was sold on a tourist boat while cruising the Perfume River.

Comments

[Jean-Anne Hawse]

Chicken feather paintings
Hello! I am wondering if you met the artist that creates these amazing works of art? I have two of his feather painting portraits. I would love to get in contact with the artist if you can help? That would be super!! I am very happy you get to travel and blog about all the wonderful places you get to visit! Thank you very much! Jean-Anne Hawse, Calgary, Canada