Tran Luu Hau

b. 1928, Vietnam

Tran Luu Hau (b. 1928, Ninh Binh, Vietnam) is an eminent artist whose art spans the modern history of Vietnam from its resistance against French colonialism in the 1940s to current day cultural developments. Tran Luu Hau is well-known for his 'abstraction of reality' inspired by the works of post-impressionist and expressionist artists including Henri Matisse, Chaim Soutine, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. His favourite painting subjects have been landscapes and flowers in the expressionistic abstracted style.

In 1946, Tran served on the propaganda information unit of the Vietnamese Resistance. From 1949 to 1954, he was enrolled in the Viet Bac Fine Arts School, where he attended a masterclass led by pioneer artist To Ngoc Van to train a group of 22 painters in the Khang Chien (resistance) style. Between 1953 and 1954, most of his works were used as propaganda posters for the Resistance. In the mid-1950s Tran received a scholarship at the Surikov Fine Arts Institute in Moscow, where he furthered his study of art and theatre design. Upon his return to Vietnam, he taught as a faculty member of the Hanoi Fine Arts University (1962 to 1989).

Tran Luu Hau has participated in many of the national fine arts exhibitions in Vietnam where he has also won awards. Internationally, he has been exhibited in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and the United States of America. His works are collected by Singtel and the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum.

Artwork