Watercoloured paintings on dó (poonah) paper by Vũ Thái Bình, are on display in Hà Nội reflecting the peaceful and modest daily life.

Midday Trưa Vắng (At Noon), watercolour on dó paper. — Photos courtesy of the artist

The exhibition Sắc Dó (Colours of Dó Paper) opened on Friday in Hà Nội showcasing 30 of his recent paintings.

Bình, 42, is considered as a master of painting on dó paper. Instead of small paintings as usual, he often created large paintings (1m-2m long) which requires high technique and skill.

His paintings are memory of his childhood and feelings about the people and the places he visited.

Đợi (Waiting), 60cm by 120cm showing the dog’s faithfulness, said Vũ Thái Bình.

“I tell people memories in the old days, when my parents were often absent from home working, I stay alone with lazy cats, a dog guarding at the door and chickens finding rice on the ground,” he said.

“Some paintings are inspired by ethnic people in the northern province of Hà Giang where life is so hard but I still find beautiful things such as tolerant old women, innocent children and hardworking people,” said Bình.

Over the past few decades, dó paper - the rustic gift of Vietnamese countryside - remains an open artistic challenge for artists who search for a breakthrough in Vietnamese contemporary art, said Lương Xuân Đoàn, vice chairman of the Việt Nam Fine Arts Association.

March, 60cm by 90cm (2018), the painting shows a lazy cat thinking in his own world, without any worry and anxiety.

“The allure of dó is not difficult to discern,” he said.

Dó seems to be the only material for Bình to create. It also brings the fame for the painter.

“Dó is the familiar material for folk paintings and sketches. But Bình used dó to make remarkable artworks,” he added.

“Each painting is a combination of many layers of dó paper. His watercolours blur on the thin and soft paper bringing much emotion for the audience.”

The exhibition will run until October 8 at the Việt Nam Fine Arts Museum, 66 Nguyễn Thái Học Street, Hà Nội. — VNS