Born in Hue, Vietnam in 1943, Pham Luc has painted since the age of seventeen. He studied at the Hanoi University of Fine Arts, originally established in 1925 as L’Ecole des beaux-arts d’Indochina. The founder, French artist Victor Tardieu - a friend of Henri Matisse, introduced modernism and European techniques to the first generation of ‘Indochinese’ students, which included Annamese, Tonkinese, Khmer and Lao students. Luc also studied calligraphy in China under the teachings of master painters, learning the subtleties and philosophy of oriental traditions. With the outbreak of the Vietnam War, Pham Luc became a Major in the Vietnam People’s Army. A soldier painter, he was able to continue painting during the war despite the scarcity of paint, brushes and canvas. When canvas was unavailable he continued to paint on burlap rice sacks at an uninterrupted pace. Many of Luc’s paintings from the war years are rat-gnawed and shrapnel-ridden. Yet although they are darker in composition and content than his later works, they embody an irrepressible spirit and reflect the great adversity of those difficult years. Interestingly, the paintings in this exhibition depicting beautiful women during wartime conditions were against the socialist dictum of the time. Pham Luc hid these paintings for many years before he felt that he could display them. Now regarded as one of Vietnam’s most important modern artists, with work represented in collections throughout the world, this is the first exhibition of Pham Luc’s paintings in Sydney. Luc says, “My paintings are heartfelt – depicting the harmony between man and nature as well as the simple beauty of the Vietnamese people”.
Left: Vietnam People’s Army and countryside militia pushing heavy artillery with bullock on Ho Chi Mihn trail, 1970, oil on burlap rice sack, 90 x 108 cm Far Left: Countryside militia woman brushing comrade’s hair, 1967, oil on burlap rice sack, 97 x 117 cm
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PHAM LUC Four Paintings from the War Years Opening: Thursday 29 September 2016 6-8pm Exhibition: 29 September - 23 October 2016
MARTIN BROWNE CONTEMPORARY 15 HAMPDEN STREET PADDINGTON NSW 2021 TEL: 02 9331 7997 FAX: 02 9331 7050 info@martinbrownecontemporary.com www.martinbrownecontemporary.com GALLERY HOURS: TUESDAY - SUNDAY 10:30AM - 6PM
Left: Grandmother with Grandson, 1967, oil on burlap rice sack, 99 x 57 cm Right: Countryside woman feeding baby and soldier husband, 1968, oil on burlap rice sack, 91 x 122 cm