Vietnamese modern art is a rising force in the world of fine arts. And Vietnamese art galleries have played, and are still playing, a major role in this new surge of international enthusiasm around Vietnamese art. Let’s take a closer look at the immense contribution of Vietnamese art galleries to the widespread popularity of Vietnamese modern art.

The genesis of the current popularity of Vietnamese art can be traced back to the beginning of the last decade of the last century. It is during this time that Vietnamese art in general and contemporary Vietnamese art in particular have started to emerge from a state of virtually no recognition and anonymity to have its say on the world’s art scene. For long, scholars and researchers from the Occident were prone to dismiss Vietnamese culture as a wan replica of Chinese or a mishmash of French-Chinese-Indian cultures. That Vietnam owes much to those great civilizations is undeniable, but it in no way means that Vietnamese culture is a mere product of mimicry. It is safe to say that what has enabled Vietnam to survive as a nation through an aggregate thousand-odd years of foreign domination is that she has known how to digest foreign influences and incorporate their quintessence into her own culture.

It is not surprising then that Vietnamese modern art today exhibits a happy knack of mixing Western techniques with a rich traditional sensibility. Thematically, Vietnamese modern art has stayed close to the nation’s tradition and cultural heritage, drawing inspiration from local festivals, age-old traditions, peasant life and other local variety. In these days, when people are speaking of an identity crisis in Asian art, Vietnamese art has become a center of attraction. Indeed, Vietnamese art works in the last decade have been increasingly sought after by foreign collectors and art lovers. Exhibitions of contemporary Vietnamese art are being organized in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, USA, Argentina and more.

A Vietnamese art gallery is probably the best place to get acquainted with this new école. In most parts of the art world, the life of an artist tends to revolve around art galleries. Vietnamese art galleries are no exception. Recognition comes easy for an artist if he or she succeeds in displaying a work in a reputed gallery. This simple philosophy has led to the fervent populating of many Vietnamese art galleries with the best samples from one’s repertoire.

The owner of a reputed Vietnamese art gallery often plays a significant role in launching and promoting artists. He may weave engrossing, mostly fictional but sometimes true stories around them. Seasoned art lovers, however, will usually look past the hype, negotiate hard and sometimes get very good prices by going directly to the artists.

One can easily conclude that art is big business in Vietnam. Fine Arts have found an all new commercial lease of life. Vietnamese art gallery owners today talk of selling individual works for tens of thousands of dollars, and some are financing frequent trips to the United States, Europe, and Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Paintings that sold for less than $50 even ten years ago, are now fetching more than $50,000.

Aroma DD Art Gallery, Suffusive Art Gallery, Apricot Gallery, Doai Gallery, Dong Phong Gallery, Green Palm Gallery, Hanoi Studio, Mai Gallery – there’s no dearth of galleries in Vietnam today. If you want to have a first hand experience of Vietnamese modern art, there is just one place to head for – Vietnamese art galleries.




By: Simon Churchgate