From Silk to Lacquer, Echoes of Tonkin Explores Vietnam’s Artistic Heritage

By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)

Vietnamese modern art is a fascinating meeting of cultures, techniques and artistic traditions. From the introduction of European academic painting to the development of silk painting and lacquerwork, the period between the early 20th century and 1960 saw Vietnamese artists explore new ways of expressing the world around them.

Opening at de Sarthe in Hong Kong on 10 October, Echoes of Tonkin: Vietnamese Modern Art brings together paintings, sculpture and lacquerworks from this period, featuring artists including Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, Nguyen Gia Tri, Pham Hau, Vu Cao Dam, Albert Cézard, Victor Tardieu, Léa Lafugie, Joseph Inguimberty and Alix Aymé.

Among the earliest works are two large canvases by Albert Cézard, Scène du Vietnam (c.1905). One captures the activity of a waterfront, while the other turns to the quieter setting of a veranda. Placed together, the paintings echo the Vietnamese tradition of câu đối, in which parallel inscriptions are paired to create a complementary composition.

Victor Tardieu’s Portrait d’homme (c.1923) offers a different perspective. Painted before he founded the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, the portrait focuses on the individuality of its Vietnamese sitter. Léa Lafugie’s Le Tibet, terre des Bouddhas vivants (1927) is also included, adding another dimension to the range of subjects explored by artists working during this period.

The École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine, founded in 1924, played an important role in the development of modern Vietnamese art. Under figures including Tardieu, Joseph Inguimberty and Alix Aymé, European academic techniques met Vietnamese materials and artistic traditions, giving artists new ways to approach painting.

The works in Echoes of Tonkin show just how varied those approaches became.

Le Pho’s Le Bol bleu (1930) and L’illumination de Bouddha (1947) demonstrate his use of silk, a medium that allows for a delicate treatment of colour and line. Inguimberty’s Chapa (1942) appears alongside lacquerworks by Aymé and Pham Hau, whose intricate surfaces reveal the skill involved in working with the material.

Then there is Nguyen Gia Tri’s Bateaux dans la baie d’Halong (1960), which brings lacquerwork into the later part of the exhibition’s timeline. The medium’s layered surfaces and rich finishes offer a different visual experience from the fluidity of silk, showing the range of techniques Vietnamese artists developed during these decades.

The exhibition also reaches further back into Vietnam’s artistic history with two Cham sculptures: a sandstone Buddha dating to the 9th or 10th century, and a Ganesha in the Tháp Mẫm style of Bình Định, from the 11th or 12th century.

Separated from the modern paintings by centuries, the sculptures introduce an earlier artistic tradition shaped by religious and cultural influences, including Buddhism and Hinduism. They also place the modern works within a much longer history of art in Vietnam, one that began well before the arrival of the French.

Curated by Leah Do and Tran Dinh Thuc Doan, Echoes of Tonkin: Vietnamese Modern Art is de Sarthe’s second major survey of Vietnamese art. The exhibition runs from 10 October to 21 November 2026 at de Sarthe, Hong Kong.