North and South

Southeast Asian Collection

Accession Nr.: 69.28.1
Type: painting
Date of production:
1958
Place of production:
Signed: Gam, 1958.
Materials/Techniques: lacquer
Dimensions: length: 46 cm
width: 32. 5 cm
The artist depicts two seated female figures against a glowing red background, one with the characteristic external features of South Vietnamese women and the other of North Vietnamese women.

Varnish paintings (Vietnamese: song mai) have been found in Vietnam since the 1920s, when varnish was traditionally used to cover and decorate wooden surfaces. However, from the first half of the 20th century, in search of new ways of using lacquer, partly under French influence, experiments with its use in the fine arts began. Nguyen Gia Trit, a former student of Joseph Inguimberty at the Hanoi College of Fine Arts, is credited as the father of Vietnamese lacquer painting.

Varnish painting is not one of the easiest painting techniques to use, as its base material should only be used at a humidity of 80 degrees Celsius.