Artist sends paintings abroad for exhibition, ambassador arbitrarily takes them as gifts?

Painter Tran Gia Tung said he will protect his legal rights - Photo: NVCC

In addition to the three paintings by Tran Gia Tung that were "lost", there were also three paintings by two other artists, Tran Trung Thanh (one painting) and Le Minh (two paintings), that were not returned to the artists.

After months of contact without a satisfactory resolution, artist Tran Gia Tung posted the incident on his personal Facebook page in the form of an open letter to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long - former Vietnamese Ambassador to the UK, currently Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, who discussed with the group of artists and received the paintings to bring to the UK for exhibition that year.

Get artist paintings as gifts?

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Tung said that at the end of 2020, he and three painters Tran Trung Thanh, Tran Manh Linh, and Le Minh were invited to bring paintings to the UK to exhibit Vietnamese paintings to the host country, within the framework of Vietnamese Cultural Day in the UK.

The painting was sent directly by artist Tran Trung Thanh to Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long to bring to England.

The artists have completed their visas but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition cannot be held. The paintings continue to stay at the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.

In June 2024, when it was learned that Mr. Long's term was about to end and he would return to Vietnam to take up a new assignment, Mr. Tung contacted to receive the paintings back and was told by Mr. Long that "some of the paintings brought over were hung at the embassy, ​​and some were given as gifts to senior leaders of the United Kingdom."

Mr. Long said he "discussed and agreed" on this matter with painters Tran Trung Thanh and Tran Manh Linh and hoped Mr. Tung would "support the embassy".

However, Mr. Tung did not accept that his paintings were sent to the exhibition but the embassy used them without the artists' knowledge or any related notice or agreement.

Since the end of 2024, Mr. Tung continued to contact Mr. Long to demand a satisfactory resolution of the case, in the spirit of respecting his ownership and copyright, but was not resolved.

More than half a month ago, Mr. Tung received back only one of his paintings out of the four he had sent.

Mr. Tung also said that according to the current price of his paintings, the three "lost" paintings are worth 15,000 USD.

“We request that Mr. Long give an official response to this matter and provide a satisfactory solution for the artists involved,” said Mr. Tung.

A work by artist Tran Gia Tung is being "lost"

Receiving paintings, returning paintings, agreeing to give paintings all without receipts

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long - Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade - confirmed that he received paintings from artists for exhibition and gave some paintings as high-level diplomatic gifts. The remaining paintings were sent back to young artist Tran Trung Thanh.

According to Mr. Long, the embassy does not work directly with other artists and only works with artist Tran Trung Thanh. Receiving paintings or agreeing to donate paintings only works with Mr. Thanh.

Mr. Long did not know the price of these paintings. The embassy used the paintings for exhibition purposes, to promote art in Vietnam and to give as gifts.

Mr. Long said that the transportation, storage and organization of the paintings are all the responsibility of the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK.

These promotional activities, according to Mr. Long, have been very successful and contributed to enhancing Vietnam's foreign image in the UK.

According to Mr. Long, due to his good cooperative relationship with artist Tran Trung Thanh, when this artist sent the painting to the embassy, ​​there was no receipt and no specific information about who owned the painting.

After the exhibition and high-level diplomatic gifts, the embassy also sent the remaining paintings to artist Tran Trung Thanh without a receipt because both sides had agreed.

Mr. Long said that in 2023, on the occasion of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the embassy has made many efforts to promote Vietnamese culture and art in the UK through organizing many exhibitions with many groups of artists.

Therefore, Mr. Long expressed his sadness that the efforts in diplomacy and promoting cultural and artistic exchanges had resulted in the above incident.

The "lost" painting of artist Tran Gia Tung

No gift agreement?

Before Mr. Long's information that the embassy used the painting as a gift, it had been discussed and agreed upon with artist Tran Trung Thanh, Tuoi Tre Online contacted artist Trung Thanh to confirm the incident.

Mr. Thanh said there was no previous agreement to donate paintings between the artists and the embassy. Only after the artists asked for the paintings was Mr. Long informed that some paintings had been donated.

When he learned that "it was a done deal", Mr. Thanh and two artists Tran Manh Linh and Le Minh discussed and agreed to give the embassy the paintings that the embassy had already given without the artists' consent.

But artist Tran Gia Tung disagrees.

The "lost" painting of artist Tran Gia Tung

Mr. Thanh also said that before sending the paintings to Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long for exhibition, the four artists had a meeting to discuss work with Mr. Long.

Mr. Tung confirmed that the meeting took place at a coffee shop on Le Phung Hieu Street, Hanoi before the COVID-19 outbreak, not that the embassy did not work directly with artists other than painter Tran Trung Thanh as Mr. Long said.

Mr. Tung said he had previously brought paintings to exhibitions in Finland and Italy at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but had never had a painting lost like this.

He will resolutely protect his rights according to the law, also so that other artists do not have to face the same situation as him.

Tuoi Tre Online will continue to inform about this incident.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoa-si-gui-tranh-ra-nuoc-ngoai-de-trien-lam-dai-su-tu-y-lay-lam-qua-tang-20250326155653032.htm