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| Two visitors look at paintings displayed at the exhibition – PHOTO: COURTESY OF DANANG FINE ARTS MUSEUM |
On display are 22 paintings from a collection of works by Vietnamese artists titled “Houei” (Prosperity) of Toyokichi. They include oil, watercolors, color powders, tempera and silk paintings by Nguyen Gia Tri, Tu Duyen and Cao Trong Them, with most of them created between 1944 and 1993.
The Japanese collector presented 238 “Houei” collection paintings to the city and lent 49 others for 10 years. The collection comprises works created by many established Vietnamese painters such as Nguyen Gia Tri, Tran Van Can, Tu Duyen, To Lien, Duong Bich Lien, Nguyen Tien Chung, Linh Chi, Tran Dinh Tho, Tran Dong Luong, Nguyen Si Ngoc and Duong Huong Minh.
Addressing the opening ceremony on March 29, deputy director of the Danang Department of Culture and Sports Ha Vy said the exhibition is the first among a series of displays to be held in the coming time to introduce works from the “Houei” collection.
“The Danang Fine Arts Museum has been tasked with the conservation and selection of works for future exhibitions. The collection is of great importance in terms of diplomacy and people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and Japan as well as Vietnam’s fine arts development,” Vy said.
Toyokichi is a Japanese businessman born in 1941. He was impressed by Vietnamese paintings during his visit to Vietnam in 1986 and has been collecting Vietnamese artworks since then.
He has held a number of exhibitions in Japan and abroad since 2005 to introduce Vietnam’s historical and cultural values to people of other countries. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he was unable to attend the exhibition at the Danang Fine Art Museum.
