Oil painting of Uncle Ho's portrait painted by Russian artist A.Kuznetsov 58 years ago

..."On a night at the end of July 2018, the working group of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism went to collect paintings of Uncle Ho in the Russian Federation and arrived in St. Petersburg. We were welcomed by Professor Kolotov and his wife, Director of the Vietnam Center of St. Petersburg University. The professor is a Vietnamese language expert and a Vietnamese scholar in Russia. In a cozy conversation, we turned the pages of "documents" that not everyone knows...

Before flying to Russia, I went directly to the house of painter Huy Oanh, former Vice Principal of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, former Vice President of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association. He was one of the students who studied with Mr. A.Kuznetsov. Recalling the time when painter A.Kuznetsov taught at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts, painter Huy Oanh said: “Painter A.Kuznetsov participated in teaching K1 and K2 (University Course 1-2). After the Dien Bien Phu victory, the University of Fine Arts returned to Hanoi (at 42 Yet Kieu - Hanoi). Painter A.Kuznetsov is a teacher with a scientific and methodical teaching method, with very good analytical and demonstration skills. He helped students quickly absorb the basic, scientific principles of work structure, composition; solving light and dark; hot and cold and oil painting techniques…”.

Later, many Vietnamese artists who were students of Mr. A. Kuznetsov became famous and were awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize; the State Prize for Literature and Arts such as sculptor Nguyen Hai, Ho Chi Minh Prize; painter Nguyen Thu, painter Giang Huong, State Prize for Literature and Arts along with many other famous artists: Professor. Painter Pham Cong Thanh; Associate Professor. Painter Do Huu Hue; Associate Professor. Painter Trong Cat, Painter The Hung, Painter Ngoc Tho... Class 2 had painters Van Da, Quang Tho, Huy Oanh, Si Tot; sculptor Phuoc Sanh who were all awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts, along with other famous painters such as: Ho Tho, Quoc Khanh; sculptor Le Thuoc...

Self-portrait of artist A.Kuznetsov

According to artist Huy Oanh, when painter A.Kuznetsov painted Vietnamese people, he truly portrayed the Vietnamese soul because he had lived, worked and was closely attached to the country and people of Vietnam. Painter A.Kuznetsov painted a portrait of Hoan's mother, who was his interpreter during his working days in Vietnam. It was a beautiful portrait, exemplary of A.Kuznetsov's style.

Once, artist A.Kuznetsov took his students to paint Ha Long beach (Quang Ninh). His painting of Ha Long won an award at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in 1960, and the same award was also given to his paintingFemale Coast Guardby painter Tran Van Can was also composed during this trip. Some colleagues commented that painter Tran Van Can was more or less influenced by the brushwork and the way of solving dark and light, light and dark of painter A. Kuznetsov.

Painter Huy Oanh recalls that at that time, the Vietnam University of Fine Arts assigned painter Nguyen Duc Nung (State Prize for Literature and Arts) to go, work, and create with painter A.Kuznetsov to learn the methods, creative experience, and teaching of painter A.Kuznetsov.

A.Kuznetsov was a very simple person in life. At that time, the war was destructive, the US was bombing the North, people's lives were very difficult. Painter A.Kuznetsov only liked roasted peanuts with basil and he always had a package of roasted peanuts in his pocket. That day, A.Kuznetsov had a special honor of being accepted by Uncle Ho to draw his image. At that time, Uncle Ho was sitting on a bamboo chair with a very relaxed spirit reading a book in the flower garden of the Presidential Palace and painter A.Kuznetsov brought up the brush strokes of his portrait.

Those are the actual materials we had before going to Russia to buy back his old painting of Uncle Ho.

The artist A. Kuznetsov died in 1993. On July 25, our delegation visited his wife and daughter. They lived in a small apartment on the 7th floor of an old apartment building. In the house he lived in before, the rooms were filled with the artist’s oil paintings, from the walls to the sofa and the table and chairs used to receive guests.

Painter Vi Kien Thanh, Mr. Nguyen Van Cong and the painter's wife and daughter next to the oil painting of Uncle Ho's portrait.

We were shown two paintings by the wife and daughter of artist A. Kuznetsov. It was an oil painting measuring 67cm x 47cm painted in 1960, depicting Uncle Ho sitting on a bamboo chair. Uncle Ho was wearing his familiar light-colored clothes, holding a half-read book in the middle of the green space and grass in the Presidential Palace flower garden. At that time, artist A. Kuznetsov placed an easel next to Uncle Ho and directly painted his portrait with oil paint. Perhaps he did not have much time to paint Uncle Ho, the oil painting was basically completed with a liberal style, the brush strokes were liberal, and the artist was full of emotion. Most likely, Uncle Ho and artist A. Kuznetsov only worked for one or two mornings, in the middle of the green space and golden sunlight in the Presidential Palace flower garden. In the corner of the painting, the artist had not yet painted the entire canvas, but he had already depicted quite carefully the portrait of Uncle Ho with a leisurely, calm demeanor, a high forehead, bright eyes, and a book in his hand. He seemed to have just stopped reading, looking into the distance...

The painting was painted 58 years ago. It is not clear why the artist A. Kuznetsov did not complete this work. He painted the oil painting very quickly, with overwhelming emotions, and did not have time to sign his name in the corner of the painting as usual.

We also saw a charcoal sketch of Uncle Ho, drawn at a 3/4 angle. It is known that artist A.Kuznetsov also painted an oil portrait of Uncle Ho in another sitting position, but later an art collector bought the work.

On July 31, 2018, with the help of the Vietnamese Embassy in the Russian Federation, our delegation brought the oil painting of Uncle Ho's portrait to Hanoi. From now on, the painting has become an extremely valuable artifact of the President Ho Chi Minh Relic Site at the Presidential Palace./.

Artist Vi Kien Thanh