Monday saw a grand opening of a gallery dedicated to the Houei (Prosperity) collection of famous Vietnamese artists –created paintings collected by Mr Itoh Toyokichi, a Japanese national, at the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum, 78 Le Duan.

‘San vuon’ (Garden in a rural house) by painter Pham Viet Hong Lam (Photo: thanhnien.vn)

The Japanese collector donated a collection of 238 paintings by famous Vietnamese painters to Da Nang. He also lent 49 others works in the collection to Da Nang for long term. The collection has been handed over to the museum.

On display at the gallery are now 22 best paintings selected from the collection.

Houei features the ‘brainchildren’ of many well-known Vietnamese painters graduating from the Indochina College of Fine Arts (the predecessor of the Viet Nam University of Fine Arts), such as Nguyen Gia Tri, Tran Van Can, Tu Duyen, To Lien, and Duong Bich Lien.

Itoh, 80, began collecting artworks created by Vietnamese painters after travelling to Viet Nam in late 1986, and named his collection Houei.

Since 2005, Mr Itoh has launched a host of exhibitions in Japan and overseas with the aim of promoting historical and cultural Vietnamese values to international friends.

The donation is of great importance in terms of diplomacy and people-to-people exchange between Viet Nam and Japan, and it also made contribution to enriching Viet Nam’s fine arts.

By NGOC HA - Translated by A.T