“Two girls and a child” recognized as national treasure
(Cinet) – The painting “Two girls and a child” by To Ngoc Van has just been recognized as the national treasure.
Being one of Vietnam’s top painters of To Ngoc Van. “Two girls and a child” was painted in 1944, influenced many Vietnamese painters of later generations .
To Ngoc Van was born on December 15, 1906, in Hanoi, but his native land is Xuan Cau Village, Van Giang District, Hung Yen Province.
This painter studied for five years at the Indochina Fine Arts College and graduated in 1931. He participated in a number of domestic and overseas exhibitions, including fine-arts exhibitions in Paris in 1931 and 1932. At the Colonies’ Exhibition held in Paris, he captured a gold medal and was awarded the certificate of honour at the exhibition of French Painters’ Association in 1932. In 1933, he was elected as a member of the French Painters’ Association.
Between 1939 and 1945 To Ngoc Van was employed as a lecturer at the college where he studied. After the August Revolution, he took the post of rector of the first Fine-Arts College of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
In addition, he won several honourable domestic prizes, such as the first prize at the National Fine Arts Exhibition held in Hanoi in 1954. Many of his works are displayed at the Vietnam Museum of Fine-Arts, other overseas museums and private collections.
On June 17, 1954, To Ngo Van laid down his life in the historic Dien Bien Phu Campaign. He was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for the Literature and Art and the Independent Order, 1st class.