I paint with emotion but the artistic image leans towards reason.

Talking to Nong Tien Dung, I was even more surprised by his way of talking, which is different from the "people" of painting, who are either blunt, direct, and passionate with words or extremely sparing with words. Dung is probably one of the few painters who has a PhD in Fine Arts, so he speaks very academically. In the beginning, he also painted flowers and still life landscapes, and his paintings sold well.

But then, in 2014, he painted the work "The Bloody Road", which tells an aspect of the war, won the A prize at the Regional Fine Arts Exhibition I and received an award from the Vietnam Fine Arts Association in 2015.

After that, he did research, his doctoral thesis was "Romantic elements in paintings on the theme of revolutionary war in the period 1945-1975". In 2020, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis. After 5 years of doing his doctorate, Dung did not continue to paint this genre of paintings. Then he planned to finish his doctorate and "do business", that is, paint paintings that are easy to sell, because his wife and children had been waiting for him for too long, and the house was still unfinished because he did not have enough money. But "I thought, if I do not do it, no one in the next generation will do it, and I have researched this art form very carefully, it would be a waste to throw it away", Dung confided.

But in fact, artist Nong Tien Dung said, "it's also fate, there's something that keeps urging and urging me to follow this path."

At first, Dung painted the same style as his first painting “The Bloody Road”, which was to recreate the war. But later, the artist realized that it was a mistake, because if he painted realistically, he would not have reality and could not surpass the “old people”. So he decided to start over, painting the theme of war but with the attitude of a young person looking at war in a more humane and calm way.

Nong Tien Dung painted a series of paintings after that in that spirit. For example, in the painting “Meeting”, the surviving soldiers go looking for their comrades, they meet each other, the painting is a hazy harmony of yin and yang, there is no distance between the soldiers and the souls of their comrades.

This style accounts for most of Nong Tien Dung's works. It is also a "Bell" on a full moon day, a bright moonlit night, ringing a bell to gather the souls of returning soldiers... The work "Bell" was present at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in 2024.

The more Dung painted, the more he felt like someone had “given” him a mission. One work after another, “The Legend of the Central Highlands”, “Dong Loc Junction”… were all based on the consistent spirit of gratitude, which had great evocative power.

The artist said that to create a work, he drew hundreds of sketches, the last remaining sketch was a realistic drawing, then on that background it was erased, breathing into it a mystical, surreal atmosphere as if from some other world soldiers were returning to tell about the war they had experienced, sacrificing blood and bones.

When researching the generation of resistance art, which the artist called a difficult peak to surpass, with a PhD thesis, which peak name did you feel and enjoy the most?

- I highly appreciate painter Nguyen Sang, with his works drawn during the resistance war, such as "Party Admission in Dien Bien Phu". In my opinion, he is not only a painter, but his paintings also have scholarly elements, extremely profound thinking.

Do you paint still life and portraits now?

- I paint still life and portraits just for fun. Right now I'm focusing on the genre of painting I'm pursuing.

But this job doesn't bring you money, and I know your family is not well off?

- I know and I accept that. But if I don't paint, the next generation will have fewer people painting about it. When I decided to pursue this art form, I decided not to do it for profit.

What about your family, wife and children? I know your wife and children are still living in Son Tay?

- We still have to wait because I still think that if my paintings are highly appreciated, the value of a painting will be much greater than paintings that are just easy to hang. So I still aim for long-term value. Even the painting "The Bloodline Road" was offered $5,000 by a collector but I did not sell it.

Speaking of yourself, what style of painting do you do?

- It is a mix of realism, surrealism and simultaneity.

What do you say about the current painting trend in Vietnam?

- It is in the postmodern period, each person pursues a different style, a different trend and there is no clear conclusion.

Work "The Bloodline Road" - A Prize in Regional Exhibition I and Vietnam Fine Arts Association Award 2015.

What about the assessment of the young generation of artists?

- Each period creates a different historical mark. The previous generations of artists were extremely talented, casting a very large shadow. But that does not mean that history has flaws. Today's young generation is still continuing to follow, continue writing and have achievements that the previous generation did not have, this is completely normal.

You are an artist, a lecturer, a doctor, what do you think about artists who never studied fine arts, but still paint and sell well, and there are even writers and journalists who switched to painting and they sell very well?

- I think it is a social trend. But if we evaluate a literary work based on its meaning and words, then for a painting it is its composition, image, and space. So if we look closely, evaluating a work is not as simple as what you are mentioning.

But the buyer, the person who spends money, doesn't know or doesn't need to know what the layout or image is like. They just buy it if they like it, sometimes because of a name or simply because the painting is easy to hang.

- That's right!

If an artist has a theory like yours, will it stunt the artist's emotions?

- No, I think it's more advanced. I draw with emotion but it's true that my artistic image is more rational. But I still aim to achieve the vibration in the artistic image. When teaching students, I also aim for this. But to achieve it is very difficult, much more difficult than realism. My third-year students are already good at realistic drawing.

What are your plans for the future?

- In 2025, I will open a solo exhibition of revolutionary war paintings. The first purpose is to pay tribute to the heroes and martyrs. Maybe after the exhibition, if the fate runs out, I will stop.

There is something strange, when I presided over a ministerial-level research project on the preservation and promotion of the value of tomb statues, when I went on field trips, there were times when I went to a tomb area at noon, and I had the feeling that I could clearly see the person lying in the tomb waiting for me. Painting about the theme of war is the same, it always haunts my heart, forcing me to do it, as if “someone” was sending a message to me, telling me to follow that path.

Thank you artist and wish you success on the path you have chosen!

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