Thanh Chuong (b. 1949, Bac Ninh, Vietnam) is one of Vietnam’s most distinctive contemporary artists, best known for his richly textured lacquer paintings inspired by Vietnamese rural life, folklore and cultural traditions.Born into an intellectual and artistic family, Thanh Chuong showed an exceptional talent for drawing from an early age. His father, the celebrated writer Kim Lan, was one of the founders of the Vietnam Association of Writers. At the age of seven, Thanh Chuong began entering children's art competitions in Vietnam and internationally, receiving several awards. In 1957, his painting “Doi Ga To” was awarded a gold medal at an international children's art competition in London.In 1960, he was selected to study in a special class for gifted young artists at the Vietnam Institute of Fine Arts in Hanoi, where he was taught by some of the country's leading artists, including Nguyen Sang, Bui Xuan Phai and Nguyen Tu Nghiem.

 

Lacquer is at the heart of Thanh Chuong's artistic practice. Over many years, he has explored and refined the medium, developing highly individual techniques that give his paintings their distinctive depth, luminosity and surface quality.His subjects are drawn from the world around him: Vietnamese village life, family, childhood, love, animals and self-portraiture. Rather than depicting these subjects literally, he distils them into simplified forms, strong lines and expressive blocks of colour. His compositions often have a decorative, almost sculptural quality, while retaining a strong connection to Vietnamese folk culture.This combination of contemporary expression and traditional Vietnamese sensibility has become a defining characteristic of his work. His paintings are immediately recognisable for their bold use of colour, stylised figures and sense of movement, creating a visual language that is both personal and deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture.

 

Career: During the war, Thanh Chuong served in the Vietnamese army, working in military engineering and teaching art to fellow soldiers. Following the war, he worked as an illustrator and designer for Vietnamese literary and cultural publications, including “Van Nghe”, the weekly newspaper of the Vietnam Association of Writers. Illustration remained an important part of his artistic career and contributed significantly to the development of his distinctive visual language.As an independent artist, Thanh Chuong's work was not widely shown in official state exhibitions before Vietnam's period of economic and cultural reform. His first solo exhibition was held at Song Hong Gallery in Hanoi in 1994 and was warmly received. From then onwards, his work has been exhibited extensively in Vietnam and internationally, including exhibitions in the UK, Denmark, Japan, Korea, China and the United States.In 2001, his painting “Love” was selected by the United Nations as the symbol for the International Year of Volunteers and was reproduced on a UN postage stamp, bringing his work to a wider international audience.

 

Thanh Chuong is also the creator of “Viet Phu Thanh Chuong”, a cultural and artistic complex north of Hanoi that brings together traditional Vietnamese architecture, art and historical objects. The site reflects his lifelong interest in preserving and reinterpreting Vietnam's cultural heritage.Today, Thanh Chuong's work forms an important part of the development of modern Vietnamese art. His distinctive approach to lacquer, combined with his deep engagement with Vietnamese folk culture, has helped establish a visual language that is unmistakably his own.

 

In 2012, Thanh Chuong was named among the “50 Pioneers of All Time” in Vietnam, recognising his artistic achievements and his contribution to Vietnamese society and culture. His work and career have also been featured by major international and Vietnamese media, including The Times, The New York Times, NHK, CNN and The Telegraph.

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Throughout his career, Thanh Chuong has received recognition for his achievements across painting and illustration. He is particularly noted for his contribution to Vietnamese lacquer painting, his extensive body of work, and his long-standing career as an illustrator of Vietnamese literature and cultural publications.

He has also been described in the Vietnamese media by a number of distinctive titles, including:

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• “The King of Self-Portraiture”

• One of Vietnam’s best-selling painters

• An illustrator of a large body of Vietnamese literary works

• One of Vietnam’s most prolific painters

 

Throughout his career, Thanh Chuong has set several records:

- One of the best-selling painters of Vietnam

- The King of Self-Portraiture

- The illustrator of the largest number of literary works

- The painter with greatest number of pieces in Vietnam

- The painter who most frequently draws the attention of the media.


 

Selected Exhibitions and Awards



 

1956:  The first work ‘Doi Ga To” – gold prize at the Painting Competition of International Children, England.



1973:  Third prize of Hanoi Painting Exhibition



1974:  Exhibition of Illustration for Publications in Hanoi



1985:  National Painting Exhibition in Hanoi



1987:  Hanoi Artist Group Painting Exhibition



1988:  Hanoi Artist Painting Exhibition – Hanoi Fine Art Museum



1994:  Painting Exhibition in China - Asian Art Painting Exhibition in Hong Kong,

            

Second prize for Graphics by the Plastic Artists Association of Vietnam

          

Solo Painting Exhibition, Hanoi



 

1995:  Exhibition of Vietnam Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art, London, England

          

Exhibition “Vietnam Open” – Copenhagen, Denmark

          

Exhibition of Paintings, Yokohama, Japan

1996:  Painting Exhibition, Seoul, Korea

          

Exhibition of Hanoi paintings – Centre of Introduction and Change for Arts in Hanoi

          

Exhibition of Ten of Hanoi’s Artists in Hanoi



 

1997:  Exhibition “A Moment from Hanoi” in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

          

Exhibition “The Changing Face of Hanoi” in Hong Kong

          

“Vietnam selection” exhibition in Hanoi

          

“Contemporary Art in Hanoi” exhibitions in Hanoi & Osaka, Japan

          

“Aspiration” exhibition in Hanoi

          

“Thanh Chuong’s Paintings” exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

           

“Vietnamese Sensibility” exhibition in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

          

“Gold Paintbrush” – Faber Foundation, Castell, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

          

“Nostalgia” exhibitions in Sofitel Metropole Hotel & Red River Gallery, Hanoi

          

“A New Morning” exhibition in The Hanoi Fine Arts College



 

1998:  Exhibition “With Heart & Soul & Mind” – World Art Centre, SoHo, New York

           

“Vision from Hanoi” exhibition in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

           

“Vietnamese Sensibility” exhibition in Germany

           

“Vision from Vietnam” – Prudential’s Collection

           

“Five Contemporary Vietnamese Painters” exhibition in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam



 

1999:  “Celebration of Life” – London, England

          

Exhibition of Inter-Nation in Korea

         

“The Colour of Vietnam” exhibitions in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

         

“The 4th Vietnamese Contemporary Art Exhibition” in Osaka, Japan

         

The Exhibition of Vietnamese Painting – Seoul, Korea

         

Two Contemporary Vietnamese Painters Exhibition – Takamatsu & Kyoto, Japan

       

“The Lacquer World of Thanh Chuong” exhibition in Hanoi

        

“Thanh Chuong’s Lacquer Painting”  exhibition in Osaka, Japan



 

2000: Exhibition in Switzerland



2001:  Painting “Love” was chosen by the United Nations to make stamp and symbol for the Year of Volunteers.



2002: Group Exhibition – Jakarta, Indonesia and Belgium



2006: Solo Exhibition – Consulate of Vietnam, San Francisco, USA; Group Exhibition – Victoriano Palazo, Rome, Italy

          

The biggest artwork in Thanh Chuong’s life time - an installation named “Thanh Chuong’s  Vietnamese Palace” – Hanoi.



 

2007:  “Good Morning Vietnam, Good Morning Korea” Art Exhibition – Samsung Cultural Exchange Centre, Seoul, Korea.



2010:   Landscape and mind of Vietnam – Gwangju Fine Art Museum – Korea

             

Early summer lotus – Thanh Chuong Viet Palace – Hanoi



2012 :  Vietnamese & Indian Fine Art Exhibition – Thanh Chuong’s Viet Palace – Hanoi



2014:  Group Exhibition – Houston Fine Art Fair 2014 – NRG Center – US

          

Group Exhibition – Vietnam Cultural Center - Marseille –France

 

2015: Group exhibition "Treasures of Vietnam", London - Hanoi Art House 

Group exhibition "Gems of Vietnam", London - Hanoi Art House 

 

2023: Group exhibition "Colours of The Motherland", Mayfair, London - Hanoi Art House 

2015 - Present: Regular exhibitions with Hanoi Art House in London, including the Affordable Art Fair and other art fairs and exhibitions across the UK.