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About the artwork

Vietnamese Artist Van Tho is known for his large-scale lacquer and oil paintings, many of which feature various solemn figures. Rather than using a brush, the artist uses a trowel to apply paint to his canvases, and his works feature a dazzling colour palette. In this painting he uses both warm and cool toned colours, which creates a spectacular visual contrast, and infuses this stoic portrait with a sense of energy. Inspired by Pablo Picasso, Van Tho combines both traditional and modern painting styles, employing abstract forms, line, shape and a bold colour palette.

About the artist

Van Tho was born in 1938 in Ha Nam Province, Vietnam. He graduated from the Hanoi Fine Arts University, and is a member of the Vietnamese Fine Arts Association and the Hanoi Arts Association. Notable for his large-scale lacquer and oil paintings, Van Tho combines traditional and modern painting styles, employing line, shape, bold contrasting colours and abstract forms. He foregoes brushes and instead uses a trowel to paint. Starting out as a social realist, his works retell tradition and often depict human figures in solemn places.