VIETNAM'S FATHER OF HAND-STAMPING ONTO SILK PAINTING

Painter Tu Duyen, 93, achieved success in creating a technique of woodblock printing onto silk, also known as, “hand-stamping onto silk painting”, and is considered father of this special and difficult craft in Viet Nam.

Painter Tu Duyen (L) and famous
photographer Ninh An Vo.

Woodblock printing is a technique often used for printing text, images or patterns onto paper and cloth, and is widely used throughout East Asia, most likely originating in China and Japan.

For color printing, painter Tu Duyen successfully combined his new technique with traditional printing, which enabled him to be able to use only two blocks to create numerous colors instead of the traditional method of using one block to print each color.

Tu Duyen depicts a range of subject matter in his exquisitely detailed paintings, ranging from enchanting scenery, festivities, traditional architecture to daily life on the farm and is especially fond of taking direct inspiration from Vietnamese literature (Truyen Kieu (The tale of Kieu), Luc Van Tien, etc) and famous characters in history.

A painting themed "Minh Mang Temple" by painter Tu Duyen

Tu Duyen, whose real name is Duyen Van Nguyen, was born in 1915 in the Bac Ninh Province and graduated from the Indochina Fine Arts College in 1938.

His family moved to Ho Chi Minh City in 1939, where he achieved success as the inventor and producer of hand-stamped silk paintings by 1943. By 1950, the art form was recognized nationwide and in 1955, his painting "Tran Binh Trong" won him first place in the Fine Arts Prize.

His products became well known both at home and abroad, in such countries as the Philippines, France, Japan, Malaysia, Belgium and many more.

By 1975, the painter had sold two artworks to Rockefeller, one of the richest Americans in history, and 5 paintings of Angkor Wat to the Cambodian Embassy in Viet Nam. More than 14 of his artworks are currently on display, under preservation by the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum.

(Source: TN | Translated: Kim Khanh)