THE "HIDDEN" CHARACTER OF NGUYEN GIA TRI AMIDST THE CITY OF SAIGON AFTER 1954

The period from 1954 to 1975 marked a turbulent but also the most brilliant phase in Nguyen Gia Tri's artistic journey. After the Geneva Accords in 1954, the renowned painter decided to migrate to the South and chose Saigon as his permanent residence. Completely different from the vibrant and active involvement in journalism and clandestine political activities of the Tu Luc Van Doan period before 1945, Nguyen Gia Tri in this period established a unique position for himself. He actively distanced himself from power, rejected all political fame, and lived the life of an urban hermit, yet continuously carried out aesthetic revolutions of 20th-century significance.

For many years in the South, Nguyen Gia Tri lived in seclusion in a small house at 16 Nguyen Huy Tu Street, Da Kao Ward, District 1. He had almost no contact with the authorities, refusing to participate in diplomatic receptions or superficial cultural events. Every day, he would simply close his studio, wear his simple traditional Vietnamese clothes, smoke his pipe, and diligently work alongside his students and trusted craftsmen. Contemporary Saigon artists called him a great hermit, a man living in the heart of the bustling city but whose soul and thoughts remained completely detached from fame and fortune. This absolute silence was not a sign of cowardice or avoidance of social responsibility, but a steadfast choice to protect his own creative freedom.

THE AESTHETIC SHIFTING FROM ROMANTIC TO ABSTRACT

While before 1945, Nguyen Gia Tri was renowned throughout Indochina for his romantic, surreal lacquer paintings, celebrating the traditional ao dai dresses of Hanoi girls and poetic rural landscapes, the period from 1954 to 1975 witnessed a great turning point in his creative thinking. He decided to conquer abstract art, a movement at its peak worldwide. This was not merely a temporary change in expressive style, but essentially an aesthetic revolution aimed at localizing the language of modern Western painting using traditional Vietnamese lacquer.

The essence of Nguyen Gia Tri's abstract lacquer art is a journey to discover the invisible, to paint what is felt instead of what is seen. He completely abandoned realistic painting, blurring the lines that define realistic forms. His abstract paintings in Saigon are a free movement of color blocks, streaks of gold leaf, silver undercoat, and pure lacquer interwoven and overlapping. He realized that lacquer has a unique inherent characteristic that Western materials lack: the ability to appear and disappear beneath layers of material. Nguyen Gia Tri did not paint on the surface of the lacquer but embedded it deep within the layers of lacquer, then used polishing techniques to reveal the colors themselves. Through his hands, lacquer completely shed its decorative, handcrafted nature to reach the purest spiritual essence of modern art.

To achieve this profound abstract effect, Nguyen Gia Tri pushed traditional lacquer techniques to the extreme through a process of layering and polishing. He painted a layer of image, then applied a layer of lacquer or reddish-brown lacquer, and then polished it away. This process of painting, coating, and sanding is repeated dozens, even hundreds of times on the same painting. The seemingly accidental streaks of color appearing on the surface are actually the result of sanding through multiple layers of paint, a process carried out relentlessly over many months. In that abstract world, gold leaf is no longer used to depict the surface splendor of garments or palaces, but is used by him as an internal light, emanating from the dark depths of the painting.

At the same time, his technique of using eggshells at this stage also entered a peculiar realm. He abandoned the smooth, even gluing of eggshells in favor of a technique of directly crushing them on the lacquer surface, creating natural, rough, and energetic cracks. He used many different types of eggshells to create shades ranging from bluish-white, opaque white to ivory-yellow. Instead of polishing it perfectly smooth, he deliberately retained the uneven, bumpy areas of the eggshell, causing the painting's surface to reflect light from various angles under natural light, creating a rough, three-dimensional visual effect like ancient cliffs or the surface of time-worn stalactites. After embedding the eggshell and applying gold leaf, he used coarse sandpaper to pound, scrape, and freely grind away the intact color layers, causing the materials to melt into each other, completely blurring the boundary between matter and concept.

PROCESS OF PROCESSING VIETNAMESE LACQUER PAINTINGS ADAPTED TO THE CLIMATE OF SOUTHERN VIETNAM

The success of the abstract lacquer revolution in Saigon depended entirely on a core technical secret: the unique process of processing Vietnamese lacquer, researched and perfected by Nguyen Gia Tri himself. Vietnamese lacquer, originating from the lacquer forests of Phu Tho, is an extremely finicky and weather-sensitive material. It requires high humidity and the cool temperatures of winter and spring in the North to mature, meaning it dries through biological oxidation via the enzyme laccase. When brought into the hot, humid climate of the South, with its intense sun and strong winds, the lacquer is very susceptible to uneven drying, meaning the outer surface dries very quickly while the inside remains wet, leading to wrinkled surfaces, fading colors, brittleness, or uneven maturation in the paintings.

To overcome this critical natural challenge, Nguyen Gia Tri and his close lacquer artisans established a rigorous material processing procedure at his Da Kao workshop. First, there's the technique of curing the lacquer and regulating the humidity artificially using a closed wooden curing chamber system. The chamber is lined with jute sacks that are continuously moistened to maintain a stable humidity level above 80%. After the lacquer is applied, the paintings are immediately placed in the dark curing chamber to avoid the direct sunlight of Saigon. The craftsman must precisely monitor the time the lacquer absorbs enough moisture, reaching the perfect curing point, before immediately polishing it under cool water. If left for too long in high temperatures, the lacquer will become brittle and peel off immediately.

Second, there's the secret of preparing the cured lacquer, also known as "glow lacquer," using a rigorous manual polishing technique. Raw lacquer purchased from the North is poured into large earthenware pots, and craftsmen use large wooden mallets to continuously pound it for days and nights in the shade. This process helps to evaporate excess water, allowing the lacquer to absorb oxygen evenly and transform from an opaque white to a rich, ripe amber brown. To reduce the excessively rapid drying rate caused by the high temperatures of the South, Nguyen Gia Tri added refined tung oil and a very small amount of kerosene to the cured lacquer according to a secret ratio. This solvent helped the lacquer layer maintain its flexibility, expand and contract evenly with the ambient temperature, and prevent cracking due to sudden changes in weather, such as sun and rain. Because Saigon's climate changed significantly with the rainy and dry seasons, he never applied a fixed formula but always tested it on small pieces of wood to monitor the reaction before applying the lacquer to large works.

INFLUENCE AND EVALUATIONS OF SAIGON ART CRITICS

The emergence of abstraction and innovative lacquer techniques by Nguyen Gia Tri created a profound shock in the art criticism circles of old Saigon. The cities of Southern Vietnam during this period were quick to adopt Western modern trends, but when confronted with Nguyen Gia Tri's abstract world of lacquer painting, critics were both astonished and forced to re-establish their entire theoretical framework in prestigious magazines such as Sang Tao, Bach Khoa, and Van.

The first wave of criticism acknowledged his breakthrough, officially elevating lacquer painting from a traditional craft to a pure art form. Saigon critics used French terminology to clearly distinguish between the mass-produced commercial handicrafts prevalent in Binh Duong workshops and Nguyen Gia Tri's unique, thought-provoking works of art. They recognized that he had transformed the inherently raw materials of earth, stone, eggshells, and tree resin into something precious, allowing these materials to shed their rudimentary decorative nature and carry complex philosophical ideas.

The second wave of criticism focused on praising the spiritual light and the exceptional insightful depth in his paintings. Art critic Ta Ty and many contemporary writers remarked that viewing Nguyen Gia Tri's abstract paintings was like looking into a cave resplendent with gold and crimson or a starry night sky, where light emerges from the darkness, from the depths of the material's spirit, rather than a superficial reflection on the surface. They were astonished by the ability of his abstract paintings to create depth, depicting the surface of the paintings as a transparent amber mirror, allowing the viewer's eye to see through the layers of matter hidden beneath.

The third wave of criticism delved into analyzing the connection between his abstract tendencies and Eastern philosophical thought, particularly the philosophy of Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi, and Zen Buddhism. Critics recognized that the fragmented streaks of color and the shapeless, crushed eggshells in his paintings were the realization of the concepts of Non-action and Emptiness, reflecting the impermanent change of the universe and consciousness. The dedication of a towering figure like Nguyen Gia Tri created a historical impetus, legitimizing and strongly encouraging the abstract movement of the Saigon Young Artists Association at the time, transforming him into a beacon honoring professional integrity and genuine creative freedom amidst wartime.

BETWEEN NGUYEN GIA TRI AND TA TY

To fully understand the face of the abstract movement in Saigon during the 1954–1975 period, it is necessary to place Nguyen Gia Tri in a fascinating dialogue with the painter Ta Ty, a contemporary and also a towering figure of Southern Vietnamese art. Although both aimed for the ultimate goal of liberating painting from the world of realistic forms, their abstract movements followed two completely opposite paths in terms of aesthetic thinking, expressive materials, and philosophical origins, creating two beautiful magnetic poles of attraction and repulsion on the art stage.

In terms of style and expressive language, Nguyen Gia Tri represented a lyrical, spiritual, and transformative abstraction. His paintings erased all boundaries, with blurred colors merging into one another to create a space brimming with natural energy, imbued with the melancholic nostalgia of the Eastern soul. Conversely, Ta Ty represented a geometric, rational, and structural abstraction. As a pioneer in introducing Cubism to Vietnam, Ta Ty's abstract paintings utilize decisive lines, strong color blocks, and sharp geometric shapes to create a meticulously calculated structure, deeply influenced by modern Western technical analysis.

In terms of materials, this clash occurs between traditional Vietnamese lacquer and Western oil paint. Nguyen Gia Tri remains absolutely faithful to lacquer, creating a mysterious, translucent, and multi-layered effect through a painstaking process of grinding and peeling. Meanwhile, Ta Ty primarily uses oil paint with a bold, vibrant color palette, throwing color directly onto the canvas with powerful brushstrokes or mixing knives. The surface of Ta Ty's oil paintings creates a stark, intense contrast between color blocks, aiming for a direct, immediate visual impact on the viewer's perception, imbued with the vibrant energy of modern urban life.

The differences in the artists' artistic styles stem from the profound philosophical roots within each artist. Nguyen Gia Tri, drawing on Taoist and Zen thought, viewed abstract painting as a journey of letting go of the individual self, abandoning the constraints of reason to follow nature, and seeking the absolute tranquility of consciousness. In contrast, Ta Ty was deeply influenced by Western existentialism and a spirit of radical individual freedom. Ta Ty painted abstract art to affirm the artist's supreme authority over nature, actively creating and restructuring the world according to his personal perspective, filled with anxieties, reflections, and resistance to the realities of wartime life. While Ta Ty Westernized Vietnamese art by introducing Western cubist and rational abstract structures to revitalize visual thinking, Nguyen Gia Tri Easternized the global abstract movement by using the mystical lacquer material of his ancestors to harmonize and resolve the modern spirit.

THE BEGINNING OF SPRING GARDEN AND THE POST-1975 HERITAGE

It was during his peak creative period and while remaining a recluse in Saigon that Nguyen Gia Tri quietly laid the first sketches for his monumental work, "Spring Garden of Central, Southern, and Northern Vietnam," in 1969, amidst the most intense phase of the war. His choice to create a large-scale painting depicting young women from the three regions of Vietnam gathering and harmonizing in the peaceful spring scenery was an act that transcended all ideological and factional boundaries. It was a powerful affirmation of the artist's patriotism, his yearning for peace, and his desire for unity of heart. He dedicated twenty years of arduous labor, spanning through the historic year of 1975, to completing this work in 1989.

After 1975, following the reunification of the country, the fate of his Saigon abstract works also experienced many ups and downs, reflecting the shifting thinking of society. Overcoming periods of ideological misunderstanding or being undervalued during the subsidy era, his abstract works in public spaces such as the Ho Chi Minh City General Science Library and private collections have proven their enduring vitality. The revolution in materials and aesthetic thinking that Nguyen Gia Tri undertook in the South during the 1954–1975 period served as a solid cultural foundation, ensuring that his lacquer art legacy remained intact and integrated into the mainstream, becoming an eternal National Treasure of modern Vietnamese art.

NGUYEN HUNG

(Excerpt from the Southern Fine Arts Data Folder - Abbreviated Version)

(*) In Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism:

- Small hermit: Hiding in the mountains and forests | Poet and scholar |

- Medium hermit: Hiding in the marketplace | Holding an official position but living a simple life |

- Great hermit: Hiding in the city, among people but with a tranquil mind | "Great hermit in the marketplace" = A great hermit hides in the marketplace |

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