Lessons for Vietnamese Fine Arts in the Context of Globalization

4.1.2. Limitations

Vietnamese painting in the period 1925-1945 had great achievements as mentioned above, but limitations were inevitable. It could be due to certain constraints in the historical period, traditional aesthetic concepts created habits that were hard to break, and the thinking of artists in the early days of contact with world art inevitably overwhelmed and surprised.

In general, we see that Vietnamese painting in the period 1925-1945 lacked richness in form, and there were few unexpected breakthroughs. One notable thing is that in Vietnamese painting in the period 1925-1945, individual style seemed to be underestimated. The relatively uniform perspective, shape, color, and composition reduced the necessary richness of 20 years of painting development.

Almost all the paintings of this period have a common denominator of formality. This is understandable because most of our artists who created works during this period were studying or had just graduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts, and the aesthetic lessons at school were still deeply imprinted in them.

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Perhaps due to historical limitations, the artists' creative themes did not mention the fundamental issues of the country. Images of the urban class's daily life were still the dominant images in most of the works of this period, to some extent mentioning some aspects of the farmers' lives but only trying to express beauty and the spirit of loving people in a relatively general way, creating a narrow view of the reality of life. The conflicts between our people and colonialism and feudalism, the genuine and intense emotions before the current events that carry the breath of the times are almost absent in paintings.

In the oil paintings of Vietnamese painting in this period, all reached a relatively stable level in terms of technique. However, it can be seen that no work has reached perfection, fully exploiting the expressive ability of the material. In the silk works, the main color of brown-yellow occupies most of the space, creating a dark, hazy color palette that makes the viewer crave a rich and multi-colored color palette.

more. The characters are built with slow, static activities with scenes of sitting, resting, and playing, it is difficult to fully express the extremely rich reality of life in reality. Regarding lacquer, the decorative nature inherited from tradition leads to material characteristics that limit the volume and depth of space. Cockroach wings, then, vermilion, gold, silver, and eggshells are still the basic materials of lacquer, it not only creates the unique luxury of the painting but also hinders the ideas of building more diverse and profound works.

Perhaps due to the perspective of the French teachers, the richness of European art brought to the Indochina College of Fine Arts was not diverse. The contemporary art movements in the world at that time were extremely rich, but Vietnamese painting was mainly influenced by French Impressionist painting. A few artists with the desire for innovation and reform painted cubism and abstraction (in the case of artist Ta Ty), but these were only individual efforts, not enriching the overall picture of Vietnamese painting during this period much.

Looking at the overall Vietnamese paintings from 1925-1945, we can see that the frames of the paintings are relatively small, resulting in a composition of scenes with few characters. The character lines are thin, lacking depth in the assumed spaces. The drawing style is still heavily conventional, flat, suggestive rather than descriptive, although it is suitable for Asian aesthetics, it also creates a rather general, boring look.

Despite its limitations, Vietnamese painting in the period 1925-1945 fulfilled its historical mission of a breakthrough period, creating a solid foundation for the development of national fine arts for the next generation.

4.2. Lessons for Vietnamese fine arts in the context of globalization

4.2.1. Overview of Vietnamese fine arts in the context of globalization

Starting from the 60s of the last century, the information technology era was formed in the world. Along with the progress of all aspects of science and technology and especially communication, it has changed and disrupted many social value scales and life rhythms.

changes and many new concepts about new life. In addition to the positive impacts, the urgency and disturbance of new life have appeared. In 1986, Vietnam opened up and integrated with the world. The trend of globalization with new emerging problems also strongly impacted Vietnamese society.

Vietnam’s cultural integration with the world has taken place with both positive and negative factors at the same time. Virtual and real values are mixed and intertwined. With fine arts, young Vietnamese artists have never had the opportunity to assert themselves like they do now. Sensitive, dynamic and bold, that is the common appearance of young artists appearing in Vietnam’s fine arts life since 1986 until now.

Vietnamese fine arts have created a new spirit of inspiration in creativity. This is the period when the atmosphere of freedom and enthusiasm surged like a whirlwind in the hearts of artists and in the art market. It could be a burst from the repression of the past, creating momentum for Vietnamese fine arts to affirm its steps in the trend of integration with the region and the world.

This is truly a necessary change in our country's fine arts. Especially for the young artists, respect for the past does not hinder their enthusiasm and desire to create new, more multifaceted and attractive features in painting. This is what helps Vietnamese artists grow up faster, because they have determination, courage and creativity. The rapid and bold innovations are really encouraging, creating new motivations for new things which are the nature of artistic development.

Opportunities have opened up. It is easy to see that, after the opening period, besides economic advantages with the rich diversity of goods in a market economy, Vietnamese artists have also been "untied" in terms of ideology. They do not have to regularly create works of art for propaganda purposes but are also free to explore and discover both materials, content and forms of expression. This new breeze has helped artistic ideas flourish, a generation of mature Vietnamese artists has brought to Vietnam's artistic life a new perspective, a new form of perception with works that bring

new style. This new breeze not only helps Vietnamese artists affirm their talent domestically but also targets the world market, many authors and works of Vietnamese artists have been exhibited abroad. From here, the opportunity to exchange with major art movements around the world has been expanded.

Vietnamese fine arts gradually moved away from the group mindset, moving towards a trend of individual expression and more liberal ideas. Vietnamese artists began to move away from stereotypes and towards diversity in style and perspective. In the early 1990s, contemporary art, with new forms of installation and performance, began to appear in Vietnam and flourished strongly as a trend, even becoming a fad in recent years. Even abstract art, although it has been around for hundreds of years, only appeared timidly in Hanoi in the last decade of the 20th century with a small group of artists such as Do Minh Tam, Le Anh Van, Nguyen Trung, and Tran Van Thao.

New art forms such as pop-art, installation, and reformation are appearing more and more. With faces that have left their mark such as Vu Dan Tan, Truong Tan, Dao Anh Khanh, Bao Toan, Nguyen Minh Thanh, Nguyen Quang Huy... reflecting the need for strong, even extreme change of progressive young artists.

But, from here, some defects show more leaks than ever...

Many young Vietnamese artists have been able to make a comfortable living from their profession when the domestic art market began to attract the attention of international art collectors. Young artists have every opportunity to receive financial support from cultural funds in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Korea, etc. or sponsorship from Vietnamese collectors and private galleries. While there are many things that have been achieved, there are also many things that have not been achieved. The new and beautiful things in artistic creation are only born in the foundation of tradition and artistic quintessence, and tradition and artistic quintessence are always a continuing value, not only what remains but more importantly, what follows. Without inheritance, no matter how cleverly borrowed, it will still be obvious that it is not one's own, and if not skillfully, it will become "brown patched brocade" or "brown patched brocade".

Works in the integration period often show that many young authors only care about foreign affairs, forgetting about domestic affairs. Domestic affairs are always the root of art, the noble mission of artists. It is also from this new advantage that many "diseases" of young artists have arisen. Many young artists are soon spoiled by sudden success. From the purpose of improving their lives, they move on to get rich and commercialize art, typically many artists carry out "super production" of many paintings when they first become famous. Obviously, we still do not have many talented professional artists, young art develops somewhat chaotically, limping "borrowing" and then transforming it into their own.

Some artists began to change, they boldly left the painting style that they considered “simple depiction and copying of reality” to initially get acquainted with the “old for you, new for me” forms of expression. “Old for you, new for me” is because while the West and even developed Asian countries have known about installation and performance, Vietnamese art is still exploring on the easel with controversies about abstraction, simultaneous appearances, and surrealism.

One thing that needs to be emphasized is that the eagerness to express oneself by “early-blooming talents” has caused a rather common mentality of showing off the strange and being quickly satisfied with those “new” things. This can be seen in many paintings by young artists. Pham Cong Thanh said: “It is really worrying when they appear satisfied, quickly thinking that they have reached the place they need to go and found what they are looking for… I am afraid that it is an illusion” [51, p.171].

In a somewhat chaotic art environment, artists are somewhat confused with the scale of aesthetic values. The diversity and richness of creative concepts, which seem to open up unlimited creative freedom, can actually be a major obstacle to the calmness and perseverance of artists.

The wave of European and American culture and art has increasingly influenced all aspects of cultural and artistic life in Vietnam, both positively and negatively. This requires us to “separate the bad from the good” to promote the advantages and eliminate the strange and hybrid ones. It can be said that the historical lesson of

Vietnamese painting from 1925 to 1945 is a shining example for contemporary art to reflect on and learn from.

4.2.2. Lessons learned

In the past, Vietnamese culture has had contact with different cultures, including contact with Han culture for thousands of years and some contacts that took place for several hundred years and even only for several decades, but long or short, they all left certain marks and those marks are very easy for Vietnamese people to recognize in their behavior. Thousands of years of domination and other invasions of feudal China on our country, followed by imposition and assimilation in order to erase and eliminate the national character of Vietnamese art, are the biggest challenge for Vietnamese culture. The uniqueness of culture in particular and art in general creates the richness and value of each culture, creating the diversity of world culture and art.

Culture is not an immutable constant, therefore, cultural identity with its nuances of expression is always “dynamic” in both directions of birth and change. The influence, harmony, and mutual complementation of those unique features is a form of development of culture and art. It is through mutual absorption that the national identity of those arts also has more clarity.

The creation of art forms can be the clearest expression of national cultural identity in its process of assimilation. However, the issue that needs attention is how to ensure that this assimilation does not go in a downward direction, leading to loss, erosion, and degeneration. National cultural identity may be an abstract concept, but the protection and preservation of identity cannot be “abstract” but must be concrete.

The national characteristics of cultural and artistic activities make each nation appear in all forms with unique features, distinguishing it from other nations. The national cultural characteristics are evidence of the creative spirit of that nation. Because creativity is subject to the regulations of living conditions (geographical circumstances, historical circumstances, etc.), creative spirit lies in adapting to those conditions, finding ways to control and overcome difficulties and advantages.

take advantage of the advantages to develop. Cultural characteristics must develop together with the new, but in the results formed later, the tradition is still the backbone, this is clearly shown in Vietnamese painting in the period 1925 - 1945.

The achievements of Vietnamese painting in the period 1925 - 1945 have given us many lessons. However, there are three major lessons of key significance that are always true for every subsequent period of fine arts development in Vietnam.

Firstly, art education is a prerequisite. Knowledge is an important part of an artist's talent. Understanding helps them observe more subtly and deeply, and recognize problems to generate creativity. A painting is the composition of the eyes of knowledge and human emotions, and can be a work of life. The Indochina College of Fine Arts has made a great contribution in creating the first true artists. Modern aesthetic lessons have helped artists become professionals. They are trained in skills according to standard methods, and are equipped with knowledge and culture. The artist has become an intellectual working in the field of art. From this school, we have had a completely new generation of fine artists, with what they have learned, they have made great contributions to the development of national fine arts.

Second, cultural exchange is an immutable and unchangeable law for all cultures, including fine arts. We all know that before the French opened art schools (especially the establishment of the Indochina College of Fine Arts), Vietnamese fine arts remained almost unchanged and undeveloped for a long period. Exchanges with French fine arts were like fresh water irrigating the somewhat stagnant and barren roots of indigenous aesthetics. The most important issue here is how artists carried out that contact when cultural contact was very complicated and even had conflicts (especially during the period when French colonialism imposed the “civilization” policy). Perhaps the most important thing in that process was that artists respected universal values.

In the current context of globalization, aesthetic standards of art, including fine arts, are not constant. Therefore, exchange and adaptation are inevitable.

so that we do not become an “oasis” in world art. We must proactively accept new things, be selective and creative, and transform, which is inevitable, and Vietnamese painting from 1925 to 1945 is proof.

Third, cultural identity in all circumstances must play a fundamental role in development. Vietnamese painting in the period 1925 - 1945 has shown that the value of cultural identity has always been preserved by artists in new aesthetic concepts and thinking, clearly that is the key to the great success of Vietnamese painting in this period. French cultural and aesthetic features not only did not eliminate our traditional culture but also served as a support and support for the development of traditional Vietnamese cultural features, fundamentally changing what we already had in a progressive direction.

The contact between cultures without taking cultural identity as the root is inevitable to lose oneself. When the globalization trend is as strong as it is today, it is inevitable that there will be an objective force against the tide. Along with the trend of unification, there is also a need to preserve, honor, and promote cultural identity as a self-defense reaction. A modern work of art that retains national identity is understood as a modern work, reflecting the breath and activities of today's life but still showing viewers the individuality and specificity formed in tradition.

The awareness of national identity in art in general and fine arts in particular in Vietnam has probably existed since the earliest stages of the country. With historical characteristics, Vietnam had to endure and resist the assimilation of the Chinese feudal dynasties. The elevation of national identity in culture and art throughout the country's history is the elevation of the continuation of the good traditions of our ancestors. The elevation of national identity in culture and art is a spiritual strength that contributes to protecting the territorial integrity, security, order, and social safety of the country.

But a national art can only develop its truly unique value when it has the universality of other arts, all together creating the shape of contemporary art. Representing the contemporary nature of a nation is the "universal" nature.

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