In the hush that follows ruin, some shout; others whisper. Boi Tran paints. The Élégantes de Hue, seven women in flowing áo dài, do not ask to be seen; they endure, as Hue endured. Wounded, quiet, and radiant. Their beauty is not spectacle, but refuge. Melchior Dejouany’s journey into Vietnamese art began not with grandeur, but with the quiet soul of Boi Tran’s lacquer.
Among lacquer and legacy, her work is not loud. It is lasting.
French collector Melchior Dejouany once called discovering pictorial lacquer “one of the most beautiful revelations” of his life. That revelation began with a painting by Boi Tran, luminous, quiet, and unforgettable, seen at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2012. In her layered technique, he found something deeper: feeling, stillness, soul. Her work opened not just a door into Vietnamese art, but into a story, one that continues across generations, bound by vision, tenderness, and the quiet power of beauty that travels and connects across oceans.
Boi Tran Garden is privileged to feature a documentary movie trailer directed by Director Nguyen Quang Dung and published by Galaxy Vietnam.
Boi Tran Garden, nestled on Thien An Hill and 10 kilometres from the city centre, is a well-known destination for local artists and international masters whenever they travel to Hue.
There was a visit to another dimension of food glory, a ride out to visit Boi Tran Garden to meet Madame Boi Tran herself, a living legend of an artist and chef. The place, the green, manicured and curated garden and yards with French and local Hue touches plus the food, served like how the Royals once ate.
Boi Tran is not only a renowned Vietnamese artist and garden architect but also a talented cook. Guests at their guesthouse come away with profound insights about life.
Owning an exquisite garden around 5000m2 nestled on Thien An Hill where art researchers, scholars, specialists, and experts in Vietnam and other countries oftentimes pass by, Heritage is privileged to meet this talented artist Boi Tran – “A true heroine” of the ancient Hue in her own mansion.
Boi Tran is a painter and something of a throwback, an anomaly, a creature from another, earlier time in the life of the onetime Imperial City. She also cooks, magnificently from a repertoire of Imperial Hue-era dishes numbering over 100. She spoils all of us with a succession of dishes. Small, flavorful, and beautifully presented. And that culinary tradition, which gave Hue its reputation as a food capital, continues today.
Boi Tran Garden is proud to document a brief footage by ZDF German Television Broadcaster, featuring the gracefulness of Boi Tran's art, cuisine and architecture at Boi Tran Garden
I stopped by Minh Chau Art Gallery not only to contemplate the masterpieces of leading artists such as Nguyen Phan Chanh, Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Nguyen Sang... or visit the young owner Minh Chau but to feast my eyes on her mother's paintings displayed to the art lovers in Hanoi.
