Being of Hanoian origin, painter Pham Hoang Vuong, born in 1942, has attached his whole life to the capital city. Passionate about paintings since he was a boy, Hoang Vuong decided to pursuit the art. After graduating from the university, he began teaching fine-arts as well as continuing to paint Hanoi landscapes. His refined oil paintings, full of emotions, leave fine and long-lasting impressions on viewers.

With his ability of observation, Pham Hoang Vuong usually captures beautiful moments of nature, streets as well as the daily life of Hanoians and then reveals what he perceived in paintings with firm and quick strokes. His paintings are divided into different themes, including streets and wards; Hanoi’s trade streets, Hanoi’s flower villages and Hanoi’s suburbs. He usually names his paintings by names of streets or place-names such as “Hang Dao Street”, Hang Ngang Street”, Bat Dan Street”, “Lan Ong Street”, “Hang Be”, “Dong Xuan”, “Quan Chuong City Gate”, “Nhat Tan”, “Nghi Tam”, etc. All the paintings are close to the daily activities of Hanoians, such as the painting of street with old and newly-built houses, cyclo drivers, pedestrians, shops, trees, etc.

At the age of over 60, Pham Hoang Vuong is still engrossed in paining everyday. He has also participated in many fine-art exhibitions held in Hanoi and nationwide and had a private exhibition in Canada in 2005. (Vietnam Pictorial)

Story by Painter Nguyen Van Chien - Photos by Xuan Ha