Paintings of Vietnamese artists return home from Japan

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An exhibition of 22 paintings in a collection of works by Vietnamese artists titled “Houei” (Prosperity) of Japanese collector Itoh Toyokichi opened in the central city on March 29, on the occasion of the 46 years of the liberation day of Da Nang city (March 29).

A silk painting named "Cho que" (Rural Market) by Duy Vu in the collection.

Mr. Itoh Toyokichi earlier donated a collection of 238 paintings by famous Vietnamese painters to the central city of Danang. He also lent 49 others works in the collection, named “Houei” (Prosperity), to the city for long term.

The collection has been handed over to the Danang Fine Arts Museum. It includes works of many well-known painters graduating from the Indochina College of Fine Arts (the predecessor of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts), such as Nguyen Gia Tri, Tran Van Can, Tu Duyen, To Lien and Duong Bich Lien, among others.

Japanese collector Itoh Toyokichi.

Itoh, aged 80, began to collect works of Vietnamese painters after travelling to the country in late 1986, and named his collection Houei.

Since 2005, he has held a host of exhibitions in Japan and abroad in the hope that the valuable works will promote Vietnam’s historical and cultural values to people of other countries.

The donation is of great importance in terms of diplomacy and people-to-people exchange between Vietnam and Japan, said Deputy Director of Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ha Vy, adding that it also contributes to Vietnam’s fine art.