Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam and Tran Anh Hung: On the making of art

After the screening of La Passion de Dodin Bouffant in Ho Chi Minh City on March 23, 2024, there was a brief talk with director Tran Anh Hung where he answered questions from the audiences. I can no longer remember the details of the conversation, but I was deeply impressed by the way Tran Anh Hung talked about his film. It was an extremely convincing movie introduction from someone who has gone through dozens of pitching sessions in an effort to get people invested in the movie.

Director Tran Anh Hung on the set of La Passion de Dodin Bouffant, image from Le Point.

He somewhat repeated the film synopsis, which was well-written. It coherently and attractively expressed the core values of the film in the most direct and easy-to-understand way, while still allowing the listeners to feel the depth of the story. It was simple but not superficial, deep-seated but not at all torturous.

Listening to his talk, I could imagine the amount of brainpower, as well as the labor, that the filmmakers spent to turn the film from a mere idea into a complete work on screen. It was not an easy journey at all. The film synopsis alone had been carefully prepared. And there were also thousands of other aspects of the movie that needed to be taken care of. Everything was well done.

During the talk, numerous questions were posed about the director’s creative process and sources of inspiration. He courteously responded that the film was not the product of fleeting inspiration, but rather individual and team effort. It was a testament to hard work and intellectual capacity. Ideas are born, challenged, and continuously reshaped by knowledge, experience, and labor, culminating in the final result.

After all, the making of art is indeed a complex process that involves labor, intelligence, effort, creativity, perseverance, technology and love.

Painter Le Pho

Recently, my friend and I attended a talk about the lives and works of two great painters of Vietnamese fine arts, Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam. During the talk, someone raised a very interesting question: Although there are many outstanding painters who originated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts, why do we only see paintings of a some artists, including Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam, Mai Trung Thu, and a few others, being sold in the current market?

The answer was equally interesting: Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam signed a long-term contract with the Findlay family, and painting became a mandatory obligation for them. As a result, they created many artworks, many of which have high commercial value and are sought after by buyers.

From left to right: Mai Trung Thu, Vu Cao Dam and Le Pho in front of Galerie Van Riek in Paris in 1946, behind is a poster of Vu Cao Dam's silk painting exhibition. Photo stolen from tapchimythuat.vn

It is clear that under the conditions of constant work, their artistic skills and thinking are continuously honed and sharpened. The combination of hard work, love, and wisdom gave birth to many outstanding artworks, not just from Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam, but from many other artists as well.

The importance of continuity in making art is one of the things that artists have frequently mentioned throughout history. It can be seen that most of the great artists with well-known artworks are also those with a vast body of work. There was a time when Van Gogh painted a painting every day. Bob Dylan has written more than 600 songs throughout his career. Charles Dickens wrote 15 novels, countless short stories, and articles. Shakespeare wrote about 40 plays and countless poems… Although producing a large volume of work does not guarantee that an artist can create great artworks, great artists often have more than just a few works.

Making art is a form of labor, nothing more, nothing less. Beyond the labor, artists are expected to constantly innovate and cultivate their skills, or in other words, continuously practice their art. The process of making art demands as much intellectual effort as professions like being a doctor, engineer, or scientist. Those who create outstanding works of art are invariably hardworking individuals.

Charles Bukowski once said: “He asked, "What makes a man a writer?" "Well," I said, "it's simple. You either get it down on paper, or jump off a bridge.”

Creative ideas and inspiration are elements that invigorate and motivate one to initiate work. However, the entire creative process is labor-intensive, and to actualize an idea, mere inspiration is not enough. Artists must invest effort, uphold responsibility, and maintain integrity in their work.

Lê Phổ, “Femme au voile”

Another interesting question is: Are Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam French or Vietnamese? Can the art of Le Pho and Vu Cao Dam be classified as French or Vietnamese art?

Filmmakers also ask the same question: Is Tran Anh Hung French or Vietnamese? Are his films considered French or Vietnamese cinema?

Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam, and Tran Anh Hung are all of Vietnamese origin and have certain exposure to Vietnamese culture. However, they obtained French and Western education and were influenced by these cultures. Compared to artists/filmmakers who were born, raised, and work in Vietnam, they have different approaches. They frequently use Western means to express Vietnamese subjects. Their artworks are personal, reflecting their individual experiences and journeys. Determining whether they are French or Vietnamese, or whether their art is French or Vietnamese, does not seem necessary. This is because they, and their works, belong to their personal history which includes influences from both French and Vietnamese cultures, among others. This personal combination of influences is a consequence of a turbulent historical period and also serves as a rejection of racial prejudices that are too arrogant and narrow-minded.

Painting by Vu Cao Dam

In an essay titled "The World As I See It," Einstein said: "The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling."

Copyright and intellectual property laws give people the illusion that this world is original. However, in reality, the world is about mutual influence. Especially in the era of globalization, following major historical events that led to large migrations around the world, and with the development of science and technology, people can now experience and understand art from completely unfamiliar cultures and get influenced by that. Therefore, classifying a person or a work of art as originating from a specific country or culture seems impossible.

The artist’s job is not to categorize themselves or their work, but rather to expand their thinking and develop their being. A writer once said, “If we go to the root of the nation, we will meet humanity.” Despite living in different geographical areas, speaking different languages, and practicing different customs, people are all oriented towards the most basic values of love, virtue, and humanity at the end of the day. Therefore, as long as the theme is universal enough and the artist’s expressive ability is subtle enough, anyone can understand their art.

Written by Light-Printer