Tô Ngoc Van

[Vietnam] (b 1906/d 1954)

"To Ngoc Van was born in Hanoi in 1906 into a poor family. His childhood

was spent in poverty, both material and emotional. (..) In 1925, the Indochinese Fine Arts College was established in Hanoi (..) Van became acquainted with painting and was entirely attracted by it ..He graduated in 1931 a  year of economic crisis and began doing a new job in the contemporary society, To Ngoc Van, life was not easy. He had to

teach painting at a private school and even did advertisement designs

for some business firms(..) In 1935, To Ngoc Van was assigned to teach at the Sisovath secondary school in Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Out of teaching hours, he was very

keen on painting the landscapes, the pagodas and the people there. In

1939, he returned in Hanoi and taught painting at the Indochinese Fine

Arts College. The years between 1939 – 1942 marked a productive period

of artistic creation prior to the August 1945 Revolution. It was also the period in which he most specialized in oil paintings (..) To Ngoc Van experienced the vivid life of the resistance of the Vietnamese people and identified the dialectical relationship between

reality, perception and art. The daily realities of the resistance left

deep imprints in his heart and mind. (..) To Ngoc Van was unfortunately killed on his way to Dien Bien Phu at the age of 48 "

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Biography

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Photo

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Indochina 1931 "Various Designs" (34,4,1) [Die engr (Henry Cheffer)] [Photo (Helio Vaugirard, Paris)] Sc(167,168,168A,169,170)