First Generation Artist: École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine French Influenced
Nguyễn Sỹ Ngọc (also written as Nguyễn Sĩ Ngọc) was born on 25 December 1919 in Tam Khương Commune, Thanh Trì District, Hanoi. He graduated from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine as part of the 13th diploma course from 1939 to 1944. During the first days of the 1945 August Revolution, he became a member of the National Salvation Cultural Association. From 1957, Ngọc was a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association.1
During the First Indochina War against France, Ngọc joined the Việt Minh forces in South Vietnam. He worked as a soldier-artist in charge of the resistance theatre in the Military Zone 4, where he documented life in the Quảng Ninh coal mines, among other areas. Later, he worked at the Interregional Workshop IV, and from 1950 to 1954 worked as a lecturer at the Vietnam Fine Arts College in the Việt Bắc. There is documented evidence that in the mid-1950s he acted against the policy of the Communist Party of Vietnam to limit freedom of speech. For his participation in the journal Nhân Văn, he spent 1956-1959 in a re-education camp.2 Despite his political leaning, Ngọc won the 1951 and 1954 National Fine Arts Exhibitions.
From 1955 to 1965, he lectured at the Vietnam Fine Arts College, and became a Member of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association from 1957 to 1983. He held the position of deputy secretary general of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association from 1957 to 1958. Between 1965 and 1973, he worked as a painter at the Vietnam Fine Arts
Ngọc specialized in lacquer, silk and oil, using these skills at the Vietnam Fine Arts College in training young painters. Ngọc is also well known for his book and magazine illustrations and criticising the Beaux-Arts programme. Some of his most notable pieces included Guerrillas by Cạnh Đường (watercolour, 1949), Camaraderie between the People and the Army (lacquer, 1949) and Taking of Quarter (lacquer, 1962).3
Nguyễn Sỹ Ngọc passed away on 6 April 1990 in Hanoi. A posthumous solo show was held in Hanoi in 1992 to honour Ngọc’s legacy of contribution to Vietnamese art.
NGUYỄN SỸ NGỌC GALLERY
Nguyễn Sỹ Ngọc, 1957, North Vietnam (exact location unknown). Ink on Vietnamese hand-made giấy dó paper. Collection of National Gallery Singapore.
Publications
Editions: Thế Giới, 100 Peintres et Sculpteurs Vietnamiens du 20th Siecle, 1996, LIKSIN, Ho Chi Minh City
Hội Mỹ Thuật Việt Nam, Nghệ sĩ tạo hình Việt Nam hiện đại (Ký Hệu Hội Viên), 2009, Nhà Xuất Bản Mỹ Thuật, Hà Nội
Collections
Vietnam Fine Art Museum, Hanoi
Private international collections
Exhibitions
1951 – Painting exhibition in Việt Bắc
1954 – First in National Art Exhibition in Hanoi
1992 – Posthumous solo exhibition in Hanoi
Official Roles
1950-1954 – Lecturer of Vietnamese Art School in Việt Bắc
1955-1965 – Lecturer of the Vietnam Fine Arts College
1957-1958 – Deputy Secretary General of Vietnam Fine Arts Association
1965-1973 – Painter of the composition of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association
1973-1975 – The painter for artist Văn Nghệ
1957-1983 – Member of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association
Awards
Third Class Independence Medal
Third Class Labor Medal
Anti-American resistance war first class
Medal for the cause of Vietnamese Arts and Arts
Medal for the cause of Vietnamese art
2000 – Ho Chi Minh Prize for Art Literature II
REFERENCES AND FOOTNOTES:
- Nguyễn Sỹ Ngọc biography taken from independent research.
- Nora Taylor, Establishment of Indochina Fine Arts College and painting policy in colonial Vietnam, 1925-1945, Nghe Anh Culture Magazine, 22 January 2014.
- Editions: Thế Giới, 100 Peintres et Sculpteurs Vietnamiens du 20th Siecle, 1996, LIKSIN, Ho Chi Minh City.