In Hà Nội, from April 11 to May 2, 2025, the exhibition ‘Huỳnh Phương Đông’s journey’ was organized by Việt Nam Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with Việt Nam Fine Arts Association and the artist’s family. This is the largest exhibition ever of the talented artist Huỳnh Phương Đông with 151 works selected from more than 700 typical works throughout the artist’s 70-year career. The exhibition includes a series of portrait sketches of comrades, sketches of war zones and battlefields during the fierce resistance, and images of the country and people entering the renovation.
PORTRAIT OF ARTIST HUỲNH PHƯƠNG ĐÔNG
Artist Huỳnh Phương Đông, whose real name is Huỳnh Công Nhãn, was born in 1925 in Gia Định (now Hồ Chí Minh City). He studied at Gia Định Practical Fine Arts School (from 1941 to 1945) and Việt Nam College of Fine Arts (from 1957 to 1963). He was both an artist and a soldier, participating in both the resistance wars against France and the US. In 1963, he put the name Huỳnh Phương Đông (his son’s name) to engage in revolutionary activities, crossing Trường Sơn to the battlefield in the east of the South. After the country’s reunification, he continued to use this name as his official name for his artistic activities.
SKETCH “STEEL GROUP OF ẤP BẮC”, CRAYONS, 90 × 145 CM
The artist – soldier Huỳnh Phương Đông has traveled across the battlefields, from the gloomy Sác forest to the majestic Trường Sơn to record historical images of war. Using simple materials such as charcoal, pencils, and rough pieces of paper, he realistically depicted the images of the battlefield, life and death. Then, those sketches, reeking of gunpowder and dust from marching, crossed the border to the north, becoming valuable materials for the artist to create large oil paintings, notably three works: La Ngà Battle, Ấp Bắc Battle, Bình Giã Battle, which were awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2007.
The work ‘Ấp Bắc Victory’ is the largest work by artist Huỳnh Phương Đông, displayed for the first time in Hà Nội. The painting was created in 1963, measuring 760 cm in length. When sharing about this work, artist Huỳnh Phương Đông wrote: “In just one minute, American bombs turned the forest into a desert. Agent Orange and napalm bombs have terrible destructive power. I painted immediately and after each battle because I thought I might die without the chance to paint.”
THE WORK “ẤP BẮC VICTORY”, 1963, OIL, 100 × 760 CM
After more than 70 years of tireless work, artist Huỳnh Phương Đông left behind a major artistic legacy with thousands of works, the most prominent of which are the themes of revolutionary war and national construction. The colors in his paintings are flexible and full of emotions when he witnessed the beauty of his homeland as well as the beauty of the personality of the loyal soldiers who devoted their youth and youth for the independence of the nation. In addition, Huỳnh Phương Đông also created portraits of his friends and comrades. They are young men and women, but extremely brave on the battlefield. He considered himself responsible for preserving their memories.
PORTRAIT SKETCHS IN THE EXHIBITION
After 1975, when the country entered the renovation process, he continued his creative journey to record the image of building a homeland that was developing day by day. Coming to the exhibition ‘Huỳnh Phương Đông’s journey’, art lovers felt like they were watching slow-motion historical films, bringing them back to the moments of life and death, the heroic years, reliving unforgettable memories of the nation’s history. These films are expressed from solid shapes, soft strokes that are still strong and full of emotions. Through the exhibition, the younger generation feels the value of peace, appreciates the silent sacrifices of the previous generation, thereby continuing the fine traditions of the nation.
SOUTHERN COMPATRIOTS FIGHTING, GOUACHE ON PAPER, 84 × 180,5 CM
WAR ZONE OF SÁC FOREST NUMBER 8, CHARCOAL ON PAPER, 107 × 162 CM
WRITTEN BY VIET ART VIEW
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