The one who lit the fire for traditional paintings

The simple folk themes in Dong Ho, Hang Trong, and Kim Hoang paintings, through the hands of artisan and lacquer artist Luong Minh Hoa, have taken on a new look. Through the techniques of carving, gilding, and silver plating, folk paintings have become luxurious and valuable works.

Painting display corner in the studio. (Photo: George Newman)

In the early autumn and early winter, sitting and chatting with friends in the art community, I asked: "What's new in folk art now?". I thought I wouldn't find an answer, but fortunately, architect Tran Vinh replied: "Yes, there is the lacquer artist Luong Minh Hoa in the Latoa Indochine group (abbreviation of the word Lan tao) with the lacquer engraving line. This can be considered a new line of painting, not traditional lacquer".

Researcher and artist Phan Ngoc Khue said: “The paintings of lacquer artist Luong Minh Hoa and his colleagues in the Latoa Indochine group are lacquer paintings that retain the essence of folk paintings but create new nuances using carving, gold-plating, silver-plating techniques, etc., creating contrasting and light-catching color blocks, making the paintings have a new, more luxurious image. This is truly a meaningful way to maintain and promote folk paintings, which needs to be replicated and developed.”

This made it impossible for me to delay going to the workshop of lacquer artist Luong Minh Hoa, below Nguyen Khoi embankment on the bank of the Red River.

New series of paintings

Artists not only bring great distinction to their works, but also irreplaceable human values. Painter Luong Minh Hoa is one of them. Hoa's living and working space can be said to be "thick" with art. When you get lost here - an art space arranged like turning pages of history with brilliant lacquer, deeply reflecting spiritual and material life, depicting the eternal dream of workers about a harmonious, prosperous, happy family life, about a fair and good society... you will not be able to leave! That is my feeling when entering the art space of Luong Minh Hoa and his colleagues, on a peaceful autumn afternoon.

Lacquer requires eggs, gold and silver, and sprinkling of color and then polishing. Lacquer paintings are splendid under the light, giving off changing color angles when observed, but are limited when drawing lines because they require a lot of time and experience to create smoothness. Carved paint is beautiful because of the flexible system of lines and the creation of layers of quality.

I was engrossed in watching, while Hoa was absorbed in her work. I was satisfied with the Dong Ho paintings The Mouse Wedding, The Baby Embracing a Chicken… to the Hang Trong Tet paintings, the solemn worship paintings, and then the Kim Hoang paintings with the Tiger - The 30th Man in bold red and yellow colors, both familiar and new, fresh and sharp…

The sunlight slanted, illuminating the entire studio. I looked up and asked, as Hoa had just finished carving the cute little boy holding a chicken: "So you have combined all three traditional painting genres: lacquer, engraving and folk painting?"

Hoa said calmly: “Why not?! Our ancestors have created and summarized the techniques of making talented paintings, why don’t we take advantage of combining the strengths of those painting styles together!”

I wondered: “Could this be misunderstood as mere copying or embedding?”.

Hoa calmly said: “The important thing is to fully convey the spirit of traditional paintings, giving them new life and new appeal. Why does it have to be a completely new work, a unique creation? Why don’t we look back to tradition, pay attention to learning the talent of our ancestors and cherish, nurture and preserve it, like we drink our mother’s milk to grow up and mature?”

Then Hoa showed me the reflection of the picture frame on the floor. He said that the past is gone, but it is still the foundation for us to create to a higher level. As the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler said: “Tradition does not mean worshiping the ashes, but maintaining the flame”. Society changes, people’s needs change, perspectives change, creativity must be done to make tradition suitable to the times without changing its nature.

He confided: “It’s easy to say, but in reality, when you start doing it, you will see that combining those elements is not simple. If you are too precise, it will become fine art, but if you are too free, it will be no different from printing graphics on wood, not exuding sophistication and bringing new emotions. Here, we practice art.”

Hoa said that lacquer requires eggs, gold and silver, and then polished. Lacquer paintings are splendid under the light, giving off changing color angles when observed, but are limited when drawing lines because they require a lot of time and experience to create smoothness. Engraving is beautiful because of the blending of layers and shapes. The limitation of engraving is that the color is dry, the lines are hard because it leaves the original background and black or red lines (traditionally), so when combining these two ways of expression together, it will enhance the value of each art form, help promote the strengths of the two methods above and increase the attraction of the impact of light on the lines.

The author and lacquer artist Luong Minh Hoa talk at the Latoa studio space on Nguyen Khoi Street, Hanoi. (Photo: George Newman)

Start a business at the age of U40

After chatting for a while, Hoa stood up to boil water and make tea. At the workshop, he did everything in the kitchen himself. Hoa confided: “My passion probably took flight when I passed the entrance exam to the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts in 1999. I came to the lacquer profession and it became a part of me. I started painting lacquer at the KIMA painting workshop for about two years, then switched to the design field and worked in this field for about 20 years. This field has a very wide range of aesthetics (architecture, fine arts, graphics, performance...), which is an opportunity for me to gain more understanding of painting.”

He added that when he was a designer, he saw many beautiful applications of folk paintings on product packaging. His graduation thesis in carpets was also about the wedding of mice, so he understood the appeal of the line system in folk paintings. And the decisive factor, perhaps, was the time when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Hoa found himself with lacquer. He and the Latoa Indochine group had been thinking about finding a way and practicing for about five years, but it was not until 2020 that they officially started. However, success only began in 2022 when the group held the "The Road" Exhibition at the Hanoi Museum.

“The paintings of artist Luong Minh Hoa and his colleagues in the Latoa Indochine group are lacquer paintings that retain the essence of folk paintings but create new nuances for the paintings by using carving, gold plating, silver plating techniques, etc., creating contrasting and light-catching color blocks, making the folk paintings look more luxurious. This is truly a meaningful way to maintain and promote folk paintings, which needs to be expanded and developed." Researcher, artist Phan Ngoc Khue

Keep the fire burning and spread it to international friends

After many years of observation, Hoa's group realized that many people were interested in folk paintings but there was no way to make folk paintings more valuable and luxurious. The difficulty of lacquer is drawing lines with lacquer. If the details are smooth, it will bring out the fine art quality, but if they are too sloppy, it will become messy and lose the spirit of folk paintings. From then on, Hoa tried to combine the lines of engraved lacquer and the material of lacquer and the effect was very surprising, from then on he called this line of engraved lacquer paintings.

Lacquer paintings have participated in exhibitions in many countries such as Japan, Korea, China, France, India, etc. and have been selected as foreign gifts in the spirit of cultural diplomacy. The group's products and works have been selected as gifts for international friends, contributing to spreading folk culture and traditional materials to the world.

Currently, Hoa's group is nurturing the idea of ​​building a craft village space to create a larger development environment, where everyone can come and experience. The group hopes to create a long picture of the landscapes, culture and people of Vietnam, spanning the course of history to match the name Latoa, which means spreading the love of culture to many people.

Artist Luong Minh Hoa shared that he wanted to contribute to creating works that could help people love paintings, love culture, and love the values ​​that their ancestors worked hard to preserve. The Latoa group was very pleased when naming the exhibition “The Road” with the desire to “go to the end of tradition”, preserving the soul of traditional culture to live with modernity.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nguoi-thap-lua-cho-tranh-truyen-thong-292067.html