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\n\tLuong Xuan Nhi (Vietnam, 1914-2006)LUONG XUAN NHI: WHAT IS THE USE OF HOLDING THE SUN?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n This gouache and ink on silk was painted after the artist had already made a charcoal sketch in preparation in 1936, a year before receiving his diploma from the \u00c9cole des Beaux Arts of Indochina<\/a> (in the 8th graduating class<\/a> with, among others, T\u00f4n Th\u00e2t Dao<\/a> and L\u00ea Y\u00ean). The sketch is reproduced in Luong Xuan Nhi, A Collection of paintings and Graphics, <\/em>published in Hanoi in 2003, p. 79.<\/p>\n In 1937, the completed silk painting, entitled “La Petite Gardienne de Buffle” (The Little Cowherd<\/em>) and featured here, was presented, in Hanoi, at the SADEAI, or the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Annamite d’Encouragement \u00e0 l’Art et \u00e0 l’Industrie <\/em>(Annamite Association for the Encouragement of Art and Industry), which bestowed upon the artist the special Prize. Later that year, this silk painting was exhibited at “L’Exposition Universelle” (the World Exhibition) in Paris, then sold via the AGINDO (Economic Agency of Indochina).<\/p>\n It is the classic trajectory for the Vietnamese pictorial production of the time: works are painted in the wake of the College of Fine Arts of Hanoi, exhibited and awarded there, then sent to France in prestigious exhibitions to attract the attention of collectors-buyers. We cannot stress enough the considerable effort in promoting and selling this art offered by the colonial authorities and also by the French national authorities.<\/p>\n The Little Cowherd <\/em>is a demonstration of Luong Xuan Nhi’s faithfulness to the world of “poetic realism” he held onto for a long time. In this work, Luong Xuan Nhi describes and magnifies what he considers the heart of Vietnamese soul; like Nguyen Phan Chanh who depicts the traditional and often modest activities<\/a> of everyday life. This painting echoes other similar representations of groundbreaking works previously produced by Nguyen Phan Chanh<\/a> such as “The Vegetable Washer”, “The O An Quan Players”, and “The Meal”, among others, all executed in 1931.<\/p>\n Luong Xuan Nhi’s use of <\/a>tones<\/a><\/strong> of green and brown gouache of black ink on silk enhances the common people, as they appear graceful and admirable in their devotion to their daily task.<\/p>\n The young girl has her arms crossed over her chest, her slender hands and her face barely marked, diaphanous, showing a gentle beauty that is normally incompatible with the usual effects of her work. The beast, at the back left, seems peaceful.\u00a0 The painter offers all his talent to this pensive but energetic young girl.\u00a0Here Luong Xuan Nhi, faithful to the ideas of Tu Luc Van Doan – which we have already developed<\/a> – demonstrate his certainty that the peasant class, with neglected quality, must be promoted and encouraged. Yet the solution is not so obvious.<\/p>\n Later he will approach the Vietnamese Communist Party.\u00a0 There is no need to recall the ambiguities of the party’s membership at such times… an overt nationalism that may have masked the Marxist-Leninist ideology.\u00a0 But it’s a fact: Luong Xuan Nhi will become an official artist.\u00a0His work will suffer greatly.<\/p>\n