PRESS REALEASE THE PAINTING EXHIBITON “70 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN AND VIETNAM, 50 YEARS OF FRANCOPHONIE” Location: Vicas Art Studio, 32 Hao Nam, Dong Da, Hanoi Time: Tuesday, 10/03/2020

Today, with your prestigious participation, we inaugurate the Romanian- Vietnamese painting Exhibition, the first of this kind, opened in the highly appreciated Gallery of Art Studio-VICAS, from the National Institute of Culture and Arts of Vietnam. The Exhibition is organized for marking 50 years of Francophonie, a movement with universal vocation, where Romania and Vietnam are very important members, and for celebrating 70 years of the diplomatic relations between Romania and Vietnam. In 2020, the Embassy of Romania in Hanoi and the Honorary Consulate of Romania in Ho Chi Minh will invite you to honor many other activities consecrated to 70 years of traditional and friendship cooperation between our countries: conferences, illustrated by video, visits of important personalities, participation of Romania as honor guest country to the International Trade of Vietnam, in Hanoi, in July, books launching to the Vietnamese Diplomatic Academy etc. On February 3, 2020, our leaders exchanged congratulatory messages. The Exhibition presents valuable works of Romanian classic and contemporary painting and precious works of the Vietnamese painter, Madame Van Tuong Thanh.

Romanian painting in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries brings a whole range of changes, most Romanian painters doing their studies in and , France, which explains the formation of their own working style, by combining elements of modernism with those traditional. I will refer only to three of the great Romanian painters of our Romanian- Vietnamese Exposition. 1. (1838-1907) brings a new breath to Romanian painting. He's got Rembrandt and Rubens as masters, opening a new way of thinking plastic. He is influenced by Millet, Corot and Courbet painting, but he realized a personal style by merging the styles of the three. The most important change is evident in the landscape, an unpracticed style before Grigorescu or rarely approached by his forwards. Here are exhibited two works of the great painter: "The Light" and "The Cave of Dambovicioara". 2.ION ANDREESCU (1850-1882). He debuts with dead natures or portraits, but his true vocation is landscaper, being discovered by Nicolae Grigorescu. Andreescu arrives in the last years of his life in Paris as a student of Julian Academy. At Grigorescu's urging, he worked more at Barbizon than in the Academy workshops. Because of his contact with the French style, his art becomes more serene and gains soul balance. In the Exhibition, Andreescu is present with the work "Forest", painting in oil. 3.HENRI CATARGI (1894-1976), one of the top Romanian artists, tried to bring the European, and especially French, influences into traditional Romanian art. But if many before and after him did just that, Catargi managed to create an original and profoundly personal style, easily recognizable. He settled in Paris in 1919, and until 1922 he studied art at the Académie Julian and Academie Ranson, under several important teachers of his time, such as Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard.. In the Exhibition, Catargi is presented with “Landscape from Sozopol”. You will also be able to admire today other landscapes signed by famous Romanian painters, such as: Ion Pacea (1924-1999), who succeded, through a deep knowledge of the European painting, to create an abstract imagistic, with exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, Munchen, Washington, Ion Murariu, Francisc Bartok, a nephew of Bela Bartok, born in Romania and settled in Paris, Marcel Olinescu, Petre Atanasiei. Ion Musceleanu, Eugen Popa, Ghe. Savu, N.Constantinescu. Painting has payed a significant role in modern Vietnam. Today, we have the great privilege to enjoy of the remarkable works of one of the best contemporary painters of Vietnam, Madame Van Tuong Thanh, who offers a truly innovative perspective on modern Vietnamese history of art. I know Madame Van Tuong Thanh from the recent past of the Romanian Embassy in Hanoi, being one of the best friends of our diplomatic office. She organized very successful exhibitions in Romania, in Bucharest and Iasi. I admired the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, recently inaugurated in the Embassy of India in Hanoi, one of the immortal works of Madame Van Tuong Thanh. I remark the special interest of this important Vietnamese artist for colors, with all of its nuances. Madame Thanh use the light and happiness white, green, yellow, orange, blue and violet. A large palette of colors. Van Tuong Thanh emphasizes important elements with thick, black lines, an interesting idea that build several “attention landmarks” in her paintings. Some of her landscapes leave us the liberty to imagine several contours/outlines, more suggesting than create fixed, rigid shapes. Finally, I congratulate Mme Van Tuong Thanh for participating in this Jubilee Exhibition with several artistic works, some inspired from Romania. Thank you! AMBASSADOR

EMIL GHITULESCU