Thanh Nien News: Complete Transcendence

“Mother and Children” fetched approximately USD 10,000 at Christie’s Hong Kong on May 26, 2013. Boi Tran is only the second Vietnamese female painter, the other being Le Thi Luu (1911 – 1988), selected by the two prestigious international auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

“Mother and Children”, lacquer on panel (triptych), overall 120 x 240 cm. (47 1/4 x 94 1/2 in.)

Mother and Children fetched nearly USD 10,000 at Christie’s Hong Kong on May 26, 2013. The triptych lacquer was Boi Tran’s fourth painting sold internationally through auctions held by Sotheby’s and Christie’s since 2008.

Boi Tran is only the second Vietnamese female painter, the other being Le Thi Luu (1911 – 1988), selected by the two prestigious auction houses.

Jean-François Hubert
Senior Expert, Vietnamese Art, Christie’s

However, unlike Luu, who was one of the rare, notable female alumni of Victor Tardieu‘s École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi in the 1930s, Boi Tran is a self-taught artist, who only began to learn the fundamentals of painting over a decade ago from Nguyen Trung (Vietnamese, B. 1940), one of the country’s great contemporary lacquer artists. She did not find it easy to paint.

I concentrated on my initial works to such an extent that I did not recognize I was standing in front of the easel day and night. I used to burn all the works I felt unsatisfied with or those my teacher did not approve of. I forgot the old ones and started working even harder on the new ones.

Boi Tran

Tran’s creations are made with different materials, including oil, silk, and lacquer. Most of her paintings capture the beauty of women and flowers, mainly lotuses and Queen of the night (epiphyllum) a type of cactaceous plant whose flowers blossom during the night and wither soon after. The young women in Tran’s paintings appear in traditional Vietnamese ao dai, a dress she herself wears all the time, and their eyes are gazing into the distance, looking down at a flower or closed in prayer.

Boi Tran’s pictorial work presents profound originality: it is part of an isolated approach removed from the dominant schools; it expresses the search for universal humanism deeply rooted in a characteristically Vietnamese sensitivity.

A student of the famous painter Nguyen Trung, whose muse she became and for whom she remained a model, she transcended herself. A superficial study would reveal the great similarity of expression between the two artists, whereas, much more subtly, in Boi Tran’s creations the model of the object, in other words, transcends itself in as much as the object represented becomes its own subject: it leaves the painting, escapes from the painter and represents itself: the “self” becomes “me” and the transcendence is complete.

Boi Tran’s paintings, for the first time, were officially displayed in a female artists’ exhibition in Hue. In the following years, she joined an annual exhibition with her colleagues in the central city. In 2004, her first personal exhibition took place at Minh Chau Art Gallery in Hanoi which was run and named after her daughter. Recently, she has exhibited at her own gallery called Boi Tran Garden on Thien An Hill, around 10 kilometres southwest of Hue.

UNIQUE ART GALLERY AND COLLECTION

In 1998, Boi Tran opened a gallery on the ground floor of the Saigon Morin Hotel. Overlooking the Perfume River and Trang Tien Bridge, her art gallery became one of the first private galleries in town. Boi Tran Art Gallery’s Grand Opening gathered many famous artists and dignitaries across the country such as Hue-born poet as well as the Minister of Culture & Information Nguyen Khoa Diem who joined and did the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The gallery soon became a rendezvous spot for local artists as well as collectors, locally and internationally. Five years later, Boi Tran moved her gallery to a garden on Thien An Hill, an area with many low mountains covered with pine trees.

My friends told me that I was insane to build a gallery in such an inaccessible area, whereas some instinct told me that it was an ideal paradise for me to nourish and make my dream a reality.

Boi Tran

She and her staff including 50 people worked hard to relocate the timber houses (nhà rường) with carved wooden beams and pillars bought from different localities to Hue and many central provinces. Plus, they planted trees and flowers, built winding roads to different parts of the garden, and dug a large pond with a small house from which one can see lotuses and schools of fish swimming in the clear waters.

Today, the Boi Tran Garden never fails to impress visitors with its picturesque landscape and a complex of five nhà rường, two of which are used to display not only the owner’s paintings but also artworks and valuable fine arts documents she has collected over the past 20 years.

Boi Tran’s collection of more than 200 paintings includes works of famous Vietnamese painters from different periods like Nguyen Tu Nghiem, To Ngoc Van, Tran Quang Tran, Tran Dong Luong, Nguyen Do Cung, her teacher Nguyen Trung, Dinh Cuong, Hoang Dang Nhuan…etc. The most valuable works in her collection, according to Tran, are a total of more than 150 creations by the late Tran Quang Tran (1900-1969), also known as “Ngym”, the most famous Vietnamese painters in the 1930s together with Le Pho, Tran Van Can, Pham Hau, and Nguyen Khang. Most of Tran Quang Tran’s works are sketches of many famous Vietnamese, not only artists but also those prominent in different eras such as former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, then in his twenties, and poet Tu Mo, born Ho Trong Hieu (1900-1976), who was known for his satirical poems lampooning the French and feudal regimes of the 1930s. Boi Tran shared that the son of Tran Quang Tran left his father’s treasure to her as he trusted her, hoping she will help unveil the late artist’s creations to the public.

It’s my destiny to have the works of Tran Quang Tran.

Boi Tran

Passionate about fine arts, Boi Tran has also spent time collecting collect valuable documents and books on painting in Vietnamese and English, and Christie’s and Sotheby’s publications.

MOTHER’S GRIEF

The painting expresses Boi Tran’s pain as she tried to reconcile with the loss of her son, who died aged 22 while trying to save a drowning friend. He was studying at a university in the US. Many paintings by Boi Tran, a mother of two, in recent years feature images of a mother and two children: a girl and a boy. One painting catches special attention. A middle-aged woman in a blue ao dai has in her arms a young man at peace, eyes closed. A red blanket covers his body. Sitting beside them is a young woman with a sad face, her hands holding the young man’s head. It is one of the works Boi Tran created after her son passed away at the age of 22 in San Diego, the United States while trying to save a drowning friend. The sudden death of her beloved son left the artist shocked and brokenhearted for a long time. It took many years for her to try her best to continue her life, as “my son in heaven will only feel peace in his mind when he knows that his mother has a better life on earth.” Painting became her way to deal with the pain and express her love for her children. Boi Tran said she would leave for the US in the next few days to visit her daughter’s family. Her face seemed to brighten up as she spoke of two cute grandchildren who she said infuse a fresh spirit in her heart, helping her feel that “life is still beautiful.” Boi Tran cherishes many plans, including publishing a book on fine arts, a book introducing some 100 Hue dishes she learned from her family, and a book telling the stories of her life, especially her staff, who are mostly members of poor families who helped her develop the Boi Tran Garden, as well as other gardens in town. “Now I have a staff of 50 people, who are skilled at carpentry, wood carving, and renovating nhà rường. We design and build gardens for several friends who have liked the Boi Tran Garden.” Though she did not say it, it was evident that the garden is very much part of the artist, part of her flesh and bone and spirit.

Wordings excerpted from Thanh Nien News on August 16, 2013, they have been edited for length and clarity.

Director Nguyen Quang Dung’s Documentary TV Series “Ambrosia in all the Details” and Painter Boi Tran

Boi Tran Garden is privileged to feature a documentary movie trailer directed by Director Nguyen Quang Dung and published by Galaxy Vietnam.

Christie’s: Southeast Asian Pictures’ Letter to Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1999

Accompanied as a collector and a consignor by Christie’s on the earliest days in 1999, Boi Tran and Boi Tran Garden (known as Boi Tran Art Gallery) has a heritage and reputation for connoisseurship and exclusive bespoke services for buying and selling art and antiques.

Council of Vietnamese Phan Family’s Honorary Certificate for Painter Boi Tran’s Sempiternal Contribution to the Community

Boi Tran Garden is privileged to present an honorary certificate the Council of Vietnamese Phan Family awarded to Painter Boi Tran in recognition and gratitude for her sempiternal dedication and voluntary contributions to serve and beautify the community. The credential is certified by the Council President Professor, Ph.D Phan Huu Dat,

Emeritus University Professor Vinh Tuong’s Letter: “Madame Boi Tran’s Artistry and Brilliance Bequeathed to us a Respect and Precious Memory that Lasts for Good”

On behalf of “the Delegation”, I extend my deep respect and appreciation for a unique opportunity to contemplate your works. Your artistry and great brilliance bequeathed to us a respect and and precious memory that lasts for good.

Ancient Mansions’ Rebirth

Hue becomes a poem capital in Vietnam thanks to its nature-blended architecture. In some aspects, the renaissance of pillar houses contributes to the reconstruction, preservation and protection of cityscape, cultural awareness and consciousness of this Imperial city.

Budda Master, Sugata Thich Chon Huong and his Inscription to the Woman Intellectual Boi Tran

Honoured to present a typewritten poem by the most venerable Buddha Master, Sugata Chon Huong, reigning over Quang Te Temple, whose devotion would grace Buddhism in Hue and Vietnam, gifted to woman intellectual Boi Tran.

Vinh Phoi, a Pioneering Abstract Expressionist, a Loyalist to the Imperial Hue and His Handwritten Reference Letter to Boi Tran and the Art Gallery

“If you yearn for the truth and integrity of something, ask Vinh Phoi.” – Trinh Cong Son

Director of Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum Cao Trong Thiem and the Written Massage to Boi Tran

Here’s wishing you, BOI TRAN, health, beauty and prosperity.

Mai Van Hien, Sketcher of the First Banknote for Vietnam and His Letter to Boi Tran and Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1998

I hope the gallery will cooperate and work side by side with a humbled semi skilled and below average painter who, 60 years ago (not so many), was trained and educated in a city of exquisite sceneries and graceful people, Hue.

Photographer Jean-Baptiste Huynh’s Message to Bem from Paris

Bem, I really want to invite you to Paris to see all these new works that I love and I would love to see your works as well whenever you come or I come to see you in Hue. So, let’s stay in touch. Big hugs. Big kisses. You are

Luu Cong Nhan: Endless Memoirs

“Dearly gifted to Ms Boi Tran and Chau a fond memory” – Luu Cong Nhan

Diep Minh Chau’s Drawings of Boi Tran and Minh Chau with His Inscriptions

“Dearly gifted to my friend Boi Tran” – Diep Minh Chau

Nguyen Trong Niet and Bui Xuan Phai’s Last Handwriting Before His Quietus in 1988

“The last sketch of Phai before his quietus. His handwriting is on the reverse.” – Painter Nguyen Trong Niet, Bui Xuan Phai’s closest companion.

Truong Be: A Quest For The Absolute and His Handwriting to Boi Tran

Truong Be is a great artist for the obvious reason that he is a true man who has been able to embody the history of his country even though he refrains from doing so. Behind his candid and alluring smile and beyond his stalwart posture, a strong character is revealed.

“Nature and People from an Old Outlook” Exhibition, Invitation and a Handwritten Note of Viet Hai and Tran Luu Hau to Boi Tran

On the occasion of the exhibition “Nature and People from an Old Outlook” by Artist Nguyen Viet Hai and Artist Tran Luu Hau hosted and organized by Vietnamese Fine Art Association in 2001.

Dinh Cuong: “A Piece of Poetry to the Lady on Thien An Hill in the Cold Drizzle”

Is a lady on Thien An Hill with the door latched feeling blue?

Le Ba Dang’s Handwritten Letter to Boi Tran in 1999

Fondly wish you health, prosperity and ups to the moon.

Epilogue by Trinh Cong Son on the Grand Opening of Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1995

Even if small or not, this art gallery is a monument in the city; its appearance will be remembered for ever. Returning to the old city…, to this art gallery, one feels that as he or she is coming back to see a sweetheart, who one will miss and love

Prologue by Buu Y on the Grand Opening of Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1995

Once no art exhibitions have been organized with their actual sense; there would not have been any complete, conventional conformality to the land and her history.

Nguyen Trung’s Expression on Boi Tran’s Exhibition: I and the Call from My Within

Boi Tran, with a sensible heart and the gifted talent of an artist, fully perceives the artistic and literary beauty of nature that comes right out from her magnificent garden and then conveys that beauty most aesthetically to her works.

Nguyen Trung’s Preamble on the Exhibition of Paintings: Hue in 1996

It can be briefly said that the painting exhibition that The Boi Tran Art Gallery brings to us from Hue is a poetic picture of Hue, a poem composed by the talent in Hue.

Words of Architect Ngo Manh Duc, Son of Le Thi Luu to Boi Tran and Her Work of Art

I had the pleasure of contemplating your work which I found magnificent and I’m very happy to be able to express my admiration seeing your work.

Harper’s Bazaar: A Great Hue Destination

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.

Christie’s: Women in Art from the XVI to the XXI Century

Boi Tran, the only Vietnamese female artist, has her work presented in this exceptional sale.

Éternité Magazine: Cloud Landing Collection by Designer Tran Thien Khanh and Photographer Tran Dinh Thuc Doan

Cloud Landing Collection by Designer Tran Thien Khanh and Photographer Tran Dinh Thuc Doan

Royal Cuisine – Cultural Interview: The Hue To Go by KF Seetoh

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

Anne-Solenne Hatte and “La Cuisine De Bà” or “Tasting Vietnam”

What a pure bliss seeing my second family in Hue. Not only Boi Tran is a dedicated artist, but also a woman of love. Thank you sister Thuc Doan / Bem for the precious time.

“Incubating Culture in Vietnam and Hue’s Rebirth as Vietnam’s Center of Art & Heritage” Hosted by Harvard Kennedy School, Fulbright University Vietnam and Boi Tran Garden

I remember very fondly our meeting at your home. Mostly I shared a great respect for your pioneer-ship for making Hue’s artistic rebirth a reality.

Ravenel: Select Modern & Contemporary Art, Vietnamese Modern Art

Boi Tran is one of the few outstanding Vietnamese female artists. Her style is heavily influenced by her teacher, Nguyen Trung and she also served as a source of creative inspiration for Nguyen Trung’s works. Tran’s Elegant in Hue trilogy is presented in a classical European triptych form. They depict

General Secretary, Germany Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing’s Letter to Artist Boi Tran

I would like to thank you for your hospitality and warm welcome in your home Boi Tran Garden. We were very impressed with your paintings and especially the beautiful garden that you have created. My companion and I really enjoyed the contented evening spent with you thanks to your presence

“A Perfect Evening of Companionship” with Skirball Cultural Center Founding President and CEO Uri D Herscher

You treated us to such a joyful experience in the home of your mother surrounded by her portraits of beauty. You were a magnificent host. Your words came from your heart and entered ours and our words came from our hearts and were meant to enter yours. It was a

Shanghai Pujiang Southeast Asia Culture and Art Exchange Center President Zhang Zhi Yong Celebrates Boi Tran’s Solo Exhibition: Le Rêve Qui Veille

On the special occasion of Boi Tran’s 60 years of age as well as her solo exhibition: Le Rêve Qui Veille on 26 October 2017, Mr and Mrs Zhang Zhi Yong, President of Shanghai Pujiang Southeast Asia Culture and Art Exchange Center comes to celebrate and share the pleasure and

Boi Tran: “Le Rêve Qui Veille” by Christie’s Senior Expert Jean-François Hubert

There is no place without a history. There is no history without a place. There are places without measure, and histories beyond all time. Elegant moments and secret places. Patches of eternity and jolted thoughts. To verify this, one must know Boi Tran.

Fine Dining Deepened in Endless Conversation with Mr William Drea “Bro” Adams and Mr Joe Boulos

Bem. Thank you for the lovely dinner and the honour of spending time in the home and art gallery of Madame Boi Tran. It was a very memorable evening and we are very grateful. It will be certainly one of the highlights of our trip.

Largest Museum in Canada: Royal Ontario Museum and Letter to Painter Boi Tran

The largest museum in Canada and the letter to Painter Boi Tran.

Cultural Exchange: Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Secretary (Asia-Pacific), Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Ng Teck Hean and Painter Boi Tran

Boi Tran Garden is privileged to host a cultural exchange between Vietnam and Singapore. The dignitaries includes Mr Le Hoai Trung, Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Foreign Affairs; Mr Ng Teck Hean, Deputy Secretary (Asia-Pacific), Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr Nguyen Van Cao, Former Chairman of

Christie’s: Se Souvenir Des Belles Choses – A Curated Collection of Vietnamese Art

On this special occasion, Christie’s, for the very first time, published a separate Vietnamese Art Vanity – Se Souvenir Des Belles Choses: A Curated Collection of Vietnamese Art. Se Souvenir Des Belles Choses: A Curated Collection of Vietnamese Art is one of Thuc Doan / Bem’s publications as an art translator and advisor has made the catalog

Group Exhibition ”Chòn Chòn”: Hanoi and Hue Young Artists Co-Sponsored by Boi Tran Garden in 2015

Boi Tran Garden is excited to inform to be one of the sponsors of the group exhibition “Chòn Chòn”: Hanoi and Hue young artists in 2015

Cultural Exchange: The Combination of Hue Royal Refined Music and Hue Culinary Culture

Formally requested by Vietnam First Lady Mai Thi Hanh, Boi Tran Garden was privileged to host a cultural exchange meeting combined with Hue royal refined music and Hue fine dining on the official first foreign visit to Vietnam of Laos First Lady Naly Sisoulith.

Heritage Magazine: Best of Both Worlds

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.

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown: Vivacious in Vietnam

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.

A Fork in Asia’s Road: The Hue Home by John Krich

It seems a special shame to dig in without first having a look at dishes designed by this cultured city’s most renowned artist Boi Tran, one of the remarkable women who have used their homes to help revive their hometown’s food culture.

Thanh Nien News: Complete Transcendence

DestinAsian Magazine: Hungry for Hue

Many of the old culinary traditions live on, and today, Hue cuisine is held to be Vietnam’s most delicious and diverse. A visit to Ancient Hue, a home restaurant and gallery of an eccentric, elegant artist and chef Boi Tran, gives visitors an inkling of what a royal banquet and

German Television Broadcaster ZDF Interview by Journalist Peter Kunz: Artist Boi Tran and the Gracefulness of Her Art, Cuisine and Architecture at Boi Tran Garden

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

“Thank you for opening your house to us but furthermore, your heart” – Gilbert Montagné

French Singer, Musician, Pianist, Organist Gilbert Montagné expressing the pleasure to meet and having the warmest welcome by Boi Tran at her residence.

Travel+Leisure Magazine: Vietnamese Food – The Ultimate Food Guide

Boi Tran took the precious formality of Hue cuisine to a new place, where the pleasure of pure flavour, not mere visual dazzle, was primary.

Boi Tran ‘Madonna’, the First Time Presented and Phenomenally Hammered at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2008

Boi Tran’s pictorial work presents profound originality: it is part of an isolated approach, removed from the dominant schools; it expresses the search for universal humanism deeply rooted in a characteristically Vietnamese sensitivity.

Luu Ly and Bui Xuan Phai Sketchbook: A True Sense of Nostalgia at Boi Tran Art Gallery

In an excellent state of preservation after these years, artist Luu Ly now bequeaths his precious treasure to artist Boi Tran in the belief that Boi Tran will take on the perpetuation and introduce these profound sketches to the world.

Cultural Exchange: Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum, The Peranakan Museum Founding Director Dr Kenson Kwok “Thank you for beautifully nourishing our bodies and souls” and the Singapore Home Affairs Delegation at Boi Tran Garden

Boi Tran Garden is privileged to host a cultural exchange between the representatives of Singapore Home Affairs, The National Heritage Board Museum, Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum, the Peranakan Museum, the National Gallery Singapore, the Singapore Embassy to Vietnam and the Delegation from Singapore Government.

Tran Ninh Ho’s “For the one I miss” and “A Lady and Lotus” by Boi Tran

Publication of Poet Tran Ninh Ho (Vietnamese, B. 1943) and his handwriting to Artist Boi Tran, issued by Writers Association Publishing House circa 2005. The front cover is Boi Tran’s “Lady and Lotus” oil on canvas.

Boi Tran, Ladies and Flowers by Nguyen Trong Tao

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

Asian Art News: Small and Miniature Paintings by the Masters at Minh Chau Art Gallery

This exhibition brought together a wide variety of work by some of the most prominent names in the 20th century Vietnamese art world. There is a timeless quality to many of the works on show whose spirit-if not style-is to be seen clearly even in a great deal of the

Minh Chau Art Gallery’s Exhibition: Small and Miniature Paintings by the Masters

Timeout Magazine: The Divine Form

Minh Chau Art Gallery houses one of Hanoi’s more impressive and valuable collections of paintings of Nguyen Gia Tri, Tran Van Can, Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Sang, and a remarkable collection of Nguyen Trung’s paintings besides Trinh Cong Son, Dinh Cuong, Tran Huy Hoan, Tran Luu Hau, Diep Minh Chau,

Thanh Nien News: Complete Transcendence

UNIQUE ART GALLERY AND COLLECTION

MOTHER’S GRIEF

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