Thụy Khuê, a member of French-Vietnamese artist Lê Bá Đảng's family (second left), presents a collection of the artist's work to representatives of Đà Nẵng City's Fine Arts Museum in France. Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng City's Fine Arts Museum

The central city’s Fine Arts Museum has received a full collection of 253 exhibits including 101 paintings and 30 sculptures by French-Vietnamese artist Lê Bá Đảng (1921-2015) following a donation from his family in August.

The museum said representatives of the city had been given the collection with assistance from Lê Tất Luyện and Thụy Khuê – two family members of Lê Bá Đảng – in France, and support from Dr. Lâm Nhân and lecturer Phạm Lan Hương from HCM City’s Culture University in bringing the collection to Đà Nẵng.

The late artist, who was born and grew up in Bích La Đông village in central Quảng Trị Province’s Triệu Phong district, left Việt Nam at the age of 18 before studying at the Toulouse School of Fine Arts (Ecole des Baux-Arts Toulouse) in 1942-48.

He had his first exhibition in Paris in 1950, and won the Award of the International Institute of Saint-Louis, the US, in 1989 and the Order of Art (Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the ministry of culture of France in 1994.

Đảng also had several exhibitions at HCM City Museum, International Festival of Huế and the War Exhibition at the Việt Nam National Museum of History of Hà Nội between 2002-2011.

The artist, in co-operation with the central provincial People’s Committee of Thừa Thiên-Huế, introduced the Foundation of Lê Bá Đảng (Fondation d’Art Lebadang) in 2006 to display some 400 artworks created in his 70-year career.

An inside view of the Lê Bá Đảng Memory Space is seen in Huế city. The space debuted in 2019 as an art destination for visitors and local residents in the central tourism hub. Photo courtesy of Lê Bá Đảng Space

The Lê Bá Đảng Memory Space officially debuted in Kim Sơn village of Thủy Bằng commune in the suburban area of Huế City in 2019 as an art visit and exhibition space for all.

His Cosmic Family series was his final creation, made in 2010-14 before he took leave of this world in 2015.

Vietnamese director, Đặng Nhật Minh made a documentary film on Lê Bá Đảng titled: From Bích La Đông to Paris, screened for the public in Huế City and Paris in 2016.

The French-Vietnamese artist was given the medal of Wars Resistance by the Vietnamese Government for his peace and anti-war activities.

According to the Đà Nẵng Fine Arts Museum, the collection includes graphics on stone, zincographs, graphic moulds, scientific documents and photos of him.

The reception of the collection also marks the anniversary of the Việt Nam Heritage Day on November 23.

The museum said it will reserve the third floor as a space for Lê Bá Đảng’s artworks to be displayed next year.

Earlier this year, the museum also received a 259-painting collection from Hà Nội Ceramics Museum and French-Vietnamese painter Vũ Trọng Thuấn, and artisan Nam Chi from Hà Nội.

Japanese painting collector Toyokichi Itoh also presented 238 paintings to the museum to boost friendship between Japan, Việt Nam and Đà Nẵng in 2022. VNS