Indulge in nature

(Baonghean) - People talk about him as a talented "amateur" artist. His paintings are in many prestigious collections. What surprised me when I visited his house full of books and paintings on a street in Hanoi was not only the simplicity of a famous person, but also because he still kept his Nghe accent, maintained the demeanor of a "Nghe artist" in my own feelings...

His house is full of paintings, but people do not feel cramped. Perhaps because of the colors, the freshness, the wild beauty in those paintings filled with nature that bring relaxation and gentle emotions to the human soul. He also brings that relaxation to live in the noisy city and sit in front of the stretched canvas. But do not be mistaken that he is dreaming. No, he said that painting nature is also a way to talk about our current living environment. Too polluted, too dusty, too rushed, too chaotic. We forget nature. We destroy nature. And he wants to bring nature back to human life...

"Chrysanthemum" - Pastel by Truong Thao.

I asked, is there anything unrelated between your name and the grass paintings? Painter Truong

Artist Truong Thao.

Having loved drawing since childhood, Truong Thao, like many other boys, often scribbled innocent strokes on school paper, walls or tile floors. He himself did not expect that later on he would be attached to the paintbrush as an indispensable part of his life. After finishing high school, with good academic results, he was able to go to China to study solid state physics at university. That was around 1964 - 1965, when he was just in his twenties. The university where Truong Thao studied abroad was Jilin University in Changchun City, in the Northeast of China.

After studying for a few years, Truong Thao returned to his country due to the complicated developments of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. It was 1966, and the country was still at war. He was asked to study Geometry - Drawing at the Faculty of Mathematics - Physics at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. In 1971, Truong Thao graduated, was accepted as a lecturer in this subject at the University of Mining and Geology and was assigned to teach at the University of Science and Technology. Here, Truong Thao had a small studio, where he stayed for a long time, marking the artist's path to painting.

After 16 or 17 years of “devoting himself” to teaching, around 1988, Truong Thao realized that he could no longer pretend to be indifferent to painting. He created more and more works. The subject of Geometry and Drawing is the boundary between the two fields of fine arts and engineering, so he firmly grasped the tools to be able to do both at the same time: work and passion for painting. In the small studio at the Polytechnic University, Truong Thao sought out the brush and palette as if he knew that he could not hide from them.

Truong Thao tried his hand at many subjects and materials, but in the end, they probably came to him: nature with its wild, peaceful beauty, along with the simplicity, rusticity, and freedom of pastels. "Perhaps no other artist paints as much pastel as I do," Truong Thao said. According to him, pastels are very convenient for the artist to draw and move around, and also have valuable inner strength in expression.

Some time after he devoted himself to painting, Truong Thao became known to many as a painter of nature. His hometown Dien Chau, a land of “miserable and lovely” as Truong Thao said, is perhaps the most wonderful painting in his memory, because since his childhood he had felt the charm and lyricism in every mountain, river, flower branch, and bush. Truong Thao loved his homeland dearly, where he used to wander barefoot on the cool green grass in the afternoon, sadly watching the tiny wild flowers blooming in surprise. Later, when he was able to visit many other rural areas in Vietnam, Truong Thao found that when wandering in the natural world, he felt strangely relaxed and happy. “I found life beautiful and fell in love with it,” he said with an undisguised passion.

That is why nature is abundant in Truong Thao's paintings. Such as "At the entrance to Yen Tu" (2010), "Thousands of Reeds" (1990), "On Bai Tho Mountain" (1998), "Stormy" (1997), "Sunset" (1994), "Ha Giang Landscape" (2008), "Quan Lan Landscape" (2010), "Wandering Clouds" (2010), "Sa Pa Landscape" (2012), "Landscape" (2014)... Sometimes it is majestic, poetic mountain ranges, sometimes it is rows of tall trees next to a cool stream, sometimes it is bushes of grass, patches of flowers... Truong Thao's paintings of flowers are also countless. Like a musician, Truong Thao sings gentle melodies about wild flowers, morning glory, chrysanthemum, xu xi, general orchid, crab orchid, night-blooming cereus, water lilies, trumpet lilies... All are colorful in his paintings. Each painting is unique, each flower speaks for itself. Their colors are as diverse and vivid as life itself, with vibrations like music, and fragrances like they are truly blooming. It feels like Truong Thao doesn’t spend much time composing a painting, because each perspective, each color scheme seems to come to him by itself, both like an improvisation and like fate. It seems like he is just an honest person recording his emotions, with strokes that are not too elaborate but very magical.

Jach Dash Harri, professor of sociology at Hobart and William Smith College (New York, USA) once commented: “Painter Truong Thao has devoted his love to wild flowers and wild natural scenery, where people can relax, because there, they do not have to carry on their shoulders a mountain of cold rules and shackles”. Indeed, for Truong Thao, the power of plants is like the power of the people, of a culture, something that cannot be burned completely, cannot be destroyed. He believes that wherever in the world people cherish every worm, ant, blade of grass, or tree branch, there people live very kindly and peacefully. “Nature is the most wonderful place”, he said, “It is also where I communicate with friends around the world, because nature is the common love of humanity and it is present in painting, where no translation is needed”.

Currently, Truong Thao has a studio in Kim Lien area, Hanoi. Entering that small room, I don’t know why I feel like I am being lulled into a sweet symphony. His paintings are often fresh and colorful like the natural landscapes we can see anywhere in this country, but painted in his own style. And his symphony is a happy, peaceful piece of music, where people feel protected, safe, relaxed, and happy. That is why there are many people who love Truong Thao’s paintings, including friends and foreign collectors from England, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Canada, America, Korea, etc.

Every day, Truong Thao closes his door to compose. He rarely receives guests, but every time friends come, he is very happy and open. After a cup of wine or tea, the host and guests sit and chat about paintings and poems. Every time the old year passes and the new year comes, Truong Thao has a gift to give to those who come to visit him, which is a New Year greeting postcard with a newly painted painting printed on it. I was also given a card with a Composition printed on it. Truong Thao said that abstract painting is like a piece of music without words, it has enough content and emotional expression in itself, it is a place to feel, not a place to see.

Suddenly I thought, Truong Thao's symphony is the same, in some aspects, people feel more than what is presented on the paper. Above all, Truong Thao's melody urges us to love nature and life, reminds us of the beauty present everywhere on this earth, if only we know how to be silent, watch and listen...

Article and photos:Quynh Lam