About 100 woodblocks and paintings created by painter Tran Nguyen Dan will be displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi from March 21 to 27.

Tran Nguyen Dan’s painting ‘The water buffaloes are the largest fortunes’

The exhibits on show - Tran Nguyen Dan’s creations from 1970 to 2015 - incorporate many unique features of Dong Ho and Hang Trong traditional painting.

The paintings also illustrate Tran Nguyen Dan’s talent in the use of contrasting colours, complex layouts, intricate carvings and the combination of traditional and modern features.

In Vietnam not many painters choose woodblock paintings to build their careers and Tran Nguyen Dan is among the few big names of this art form, along with Do Duc, Mai Khanh, Nguyen Nghia Duyen and Tran Tuyet Mai.

Since 1980, Tran Nguyen Dan has established his reputation as an artist with a unique style, which gives prominence to national characteristics from layouts to carving lines and colours.

Born in 1941 in the northern province of Bac Ninh, Tran Nguyen Dan graduated from the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts in 1970 before working at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and

Tourism’s Department of Preservation and Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts.

In 2007 Tran Nguyen Dan was presented with the State Award for Literature and Arts, Vietnam’s second highest honour after the Ho Chi Minh Award.