A walk through Bui Xuan Phai’s Hanoi
By Thoa Nguyen in Hanoi
In recognition of painter Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1987), the Goethe Institute Hanoi will hold an exhibition of his paintings on his birthday September 1.
The exhibition that opens September 1 will feature 36 works chosen by the artist’s son, Bui Thanh Phuong. It is the first in a three exhibition series “City in Art” that presents artist’s impressions of Hanoi from foreigners’ and Vietnamese perspectives. The next two shows will start in November.
Bui Xuan Phai, who is seen by many as the most important Vietnamese painter of the 20th century, was born in Hanoi and spent his entire life there. In his small atelier at 87 Thuoc Bac he worked intensively as a freelance artist and left behind an extensive artistic legacy. He was famous especially for his paintings of the Hanoi ancient city, whose streets and characteristic angles he repeatedly used as the subject in his paintings and drawings.
Bui Xuan Phai significantly influenced the development of modern art in Vietnam, although it was not until 1984 that he was recognized with the first and only solo exhibition in his lifetime.
The exhibition will run untill September 3.