“Bong hoang hon” (the sunset) is the theme of a painting exhibition held by Nguyen Van Can, a teacher of Binh Dinh Culture-Art secondary school, in Quy Nhon city. “The sunset” is also the name of a 30-meter painting grafted from 25 smaller ones, describing the scene of a village path at sunset.
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A scene in the painting “the sunset”
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* The picture of the homeland
The artist Nguyen Duy Can was born at a small village nearby the Thu Bon River in Duy Xuyen district of the central province of Quang Nam. The images of the river, rice fields and his childhood, which have been deeply embedded in his memory, is now described in his oil painting.
“I always wonder how to use the language of art to express my love for the homeland. So, I decided to draw an oil painting, describing the image of peasants on the village path along the dyke at sunset. The tranquil space is also my feelings when I think of my homeland,” said the artist Nguyen Van Can.
In the large painting, the images of the village, activities of peasants and herds boys at sunset appear simply and contain a pregnant message about the life and beauty. Each smaller one expresses a real memory which has a strange power of attraction. Such rural views bring viewers to a vivid and familiar scene of the countryside in Vietnam.
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The artist Nguyen Van Can (R) and the owner of Bao Ly gallery
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* Unique features of the exhibition
The them is not fully new and the style is not strange. The unique feature of the exhibition is that “the sunset” is first graft painting in Binh Dinh. The painting which is 30 meter long and grafted from 25 smaller paintings is known as the largest one in the central provinces and Central Highlands. Alongside these, this is an open-air exhibition sponsored by Bao Ly Art gallery.
When being a second-year student of Hue Arts University, Nguyen Van Can’s paintings were exhibited Hoi An-based galleries. In the 11th Art Exhibition for the southern central regions and Central Highlands, held in Quang Ngai province in 2005, the Bao Ly gallery bought his four paintings; also, on this occasion, the owner of this gallery, Mr. Bao Ly, decided to sponsor all expenditure for his work after Nguyen Van Can had expressed the idea on creating a graft painting.
“After considering the draft of this painting, I realized that Nguyen Van Can and I had something in common, and I decided to sponsor the exhibition. After the exhibition ends, I’ll take this graft painting to Hoi An to open an exhibition in Hoi An in the middle of August,” said Bao Ly, who also attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.
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Written by Nam Phuong
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Translated by Hong Quang
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Comment on “the sunset”
The artist Nguyen Quoc Hung said, “This is a new painting exhibition in Binh Dinh. Through the painting, we can realize the image of a peaceful village at sunset. It also expresses Nguyen Van Can’s love for his homeland.”
The artist Nguyen Chon Hien said, “This can be considered as a renewal for the exhibition. Unlike previous exhibitions often held indoor, Nguyen Van Can held an open-air exhibition. The graft painting truly describes the life of Vietnamese peasants.” | | 
