The work “A visit to the village”
“Thanks to Eva” has brought to the public 36 works of different materials that Dang Mau Tuu has recently created, such as silk paintings, oil on canvas and acrylic. They all presented the women’s beauty in different moods: lively, innocent, quiet and thoughtful.
The most impressive of all are silk paintings of Hue women, elegant and gentle in the ao dai. These can be found in the footsteps full of emotions when a woman paid a return visit to her old house in the work “A visit to the village”; in the mood of a young woman sipping the coffee and waiting for her boyfriend on a rainy day in the work “Waiting”; and in the serenity of a Buddhist follower wearing the grey Buddhist colon vest in the work “Peace of mind.”
The audience could also find memories of their own lovely girlhood in the work “In the sunlight of Kim Long Garden.”
The work “In the sunlight of Kim Long Garden”
Dang Mau Tuu’s paintings are not mysterious. They show the beauty of ordinary life. He brought into his paintings familiar images such as the roxburgh fig tree, a garden of Thanh tra citrus grandis, Hon Chen temple, Thanh Tien paper flowers, the lotus, the cyclo, etc., or the seasonal scenery: spring apricot blossom, summer lotus, autumn chrysanthemum and winter phyllostachys.
Many people have been touched at the sight of “old scenes and people” with the boat wharf in girlhood memory of going to school by boat, or the portable fireplace and the oil lamp that warm the winter.
Dang Mau Tuu said that the theme on women has been cherished during his painting life, and he has now accomplished his mission with the gallery “Thanks to Eva.” The paintings were about all the women in his real life: the mothers, the sisters and the beloved women.
His works were inspired by the eyes, the hair, the hands, the words and the characters of the women. He spent four years of preparation, painting hundreds of works about women to select the most satisfactory ones for the gallery.
The work “The old wharf in spring”
He said: “In the war time, I had to leave home when I was young. I was supported by mothers to overcome the hardship. Their love and my wife’s have helped me through and pursue my interests. Without them, my life is nonsense. I am grateful to them – all women.”
The art critic Dang Tien remarked that the women in Dang Mau Tuu’s paintings are noble, delicate and beautiful in their own way. In addition to their facial beauty, they show the beauty of painting. Many of his paintings, moreover, are about Hue scenery, but they also show Dang Mau Tuu’s inner feelings, such as the work of Nguyet Bieu garden or of Thua Phu wharf.
In his paintings, Dang Mau Tuu did not describe, but he used the space to create an atmosphere of virtual reality, a dreaming Ancient Hue, with the half-real image of a woman. Dang Mau Tuu’s gallery is like a dream full of activities and colors. He has created a dream with all his heart, his talent and his creativity.
It seems that every woman immerse herself in “Thanks to Eva” through memories and nostalgia.
Story and photos: TRANG HIEN