Lam Triet ventures into the magic world of colors docx

Lam Triet ventures into the
magic world of colors

By Nguyen Hung



Painter Lam Triet was born in 1938 in Bong Son, Binh Dinh, and
studied painting at Hue and Gia Dinh art schools. In 1961, he began to
teach painting at Vo Truong Toan and Phan Boi Chau high schools in
Phan Thiet, then worked as a painting lecturer at Hue Art School in
1968 and in Saigon in 1969. He won the national Art bronze medal in
Saigon in 1960 and then the gold medal in 1962. During the time he
was in the U.S. after 1975, he had to take different jobs andhis painting
career was thus interrupted. However, in 1990, when he first returned
to Vietnam , he long-dormant artistic heart started beating again. He
spent the whole year painting and thus achieved great success.
According to Triet, his achievements during ony one year in Vietnam
equaled all those he tried his best to garner during 15 years in the U.S.
However, in 1991, after his initial exhibition in America, he became the
first Vietnamese painter to be recognized by the Los Angeles Art
Museum and his name was listed in its library, a distant dream for a
few good Vietnamese painters on the territory of the U.S.





Since then, he has spent most of his time living in Ho Chi Minh City
and continued putting paintbrush to paper. He has exhibited his works
in Ho Chi Minh City several times and created good impression in the

heart of artfanciers.





Paintings by Lam Triet resemble an interminable gala of hues. Even
when viewed from afar or for a short while, they are all charming.
Every color patch, trail and spot in his paintings, either in bright or dark
shades, sparkles and is as variable as a diamond in the sunlight,
resembling the colorful world of a kaleidoscope.





Between 1990 and 1993, many people thought that Lam triet’s painting
was an attempt to feel the pulse of the world, accompanying the deep
rhythms of the universe. However, it was perhaps a mistaken
conception. Lam Triet’s works during this time did not conceal any
rhythm or intrinsic vitality. Though his paintings were then chockfull
of detail, their colors were sparkling, dreamy and tranquil. The outlines
of his paintings at that time either concentrated on heavy-looking
diamond inlay forms in a motionless space or contained vague colors of
the rainbow. The reality in front of him and in his heart seemed to stand
motionless, while only soft, affectionate, fascinated or passinate
feelings were brilliantly displayed. So to speak, his paintings at that
time revealed feelings.

In recent years, his painting is more composed and profound. Dark
shades which look like the remaining indispensable part of existence
are dominant; time and space have become indentical. His abstract
painting has moved closer to the end of reality-the truth in his heart,
where his feelings are mixed with and affect each other, including deep
sadness, worries, hopes and desires and quietly cherished happiness.
His painting language has therefore become more distilled The bright
colors depicting overwhelming happiness in his past works have been
replaced with a revolving reality filled with a great deal of
contradiction. His paintings, either expanding or concentrated, either
immense, grandiose or small and beautiful, often contain a certain kind
of energy, strenght or a flow of vitality.





As said earlier, Lam Triet’s painting is an endless gala of colors.
However, if in the past it comprised ony separated joy ful experiences,
it now accompanies the rhythms of life, and “the universe of his heart”.
And art-lovers will soon understand his initial inspiration and will then
be ready to sympathize with his work.