In recent years, the research and application of folk paintings in life has made many progresses. In particular, researcher, collector and director of the Hanoi Ceramics Museum Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa has released three research books on three major painting lines of the Northern region: Hang Trong paintings, Kim Hoang paintings and Dong Ho paintings. Following this success, she spent time researching folk paintings of Hue, and especially the line of ‘Do the’ paintings (paintings for religious activities and beliefs).
The book “Vietnamese folk paintings”.
The 350-page book titled “Vietnamese folk paintings” introduces more than 1,000 illustrations, divided into the following main contents: ‘Do the‘ painting in the world and Vietnam; Geography-Religion-Vietnamese beliefs; ‘Do the‘ paintings of the Northern region; ‘Do the‘ folk paintings of the Central region; and ‘Do the‘ paintings of the Southern region. That is the result of many days of researching documents and conducting field surveys throughout the country by researcher and collector Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa.
For Hue folk paintings, through the book “Hue folk paintings”, author Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa gives readers a new look at folk paintings in particular and the cultural and spiritual life of the people in the ancient capital land in general. In addition to Sinh Village paintings, Hue also has many other lines of paintings imbued with the cultural identity of the central land.
In addition to folk elements, Hue paintings also have royal influences, such as paintings of Chuon Village and relief paintings of ceramics.
A special feature of the two books of folk paintings by researcher Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa is that there are always detailed descriptions of painting techniques. At the same time, it is the process of carefully interviewing and meticulously researching the artists. This is also the basis for restoring paintings if unfortunately lost.
The two books contribute to providing more valuable knowledge for researchers, as well as readers, about the value of Vietnamese folk paintings.
