From faraway France, Mr. Le Tat Luyen and Mrs. Thuy Khue returned to Viet Nam to witness the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum introducing the art collection of the famous painter Le Ba Dang donated by them. From here, interesting stories surrounding the collection were revealed by insiders.

Mrs. Thuy Khue (2nd, left) presented a painting by famous painter Le Ba Dang at her private home in France to Da Nang in 2023. Photo: S.X

Give back love

Since the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum opened the seal of the famous painter Le Ba Dang's collection more than a year ago (November 2023) with a quantity of up to 253 paintings, statues and artifacts, surely like me, many people will have the same question: why can Mr. Le Tat Luyen and his wife Thuy Khue own such a "huge" and valuable collection?

In November 2024, when I heard that they were coming to Da Nang to attend the opening ceremony of the Le Ba Dang art space (displaying 151 artifacts), I decided to find the answer and listen to interesting stories related to the collection.

Mrs. Thuy Khue opened the story "We have the paintings of the famous painter Le Ba Dang as a fate. We have known the painter for about 30 years. Everything that Mr. Dang gave us was almost the love of sworn brothers. Mr. Dang found in me an art critic that he liked. I was also lucky to be someone that he thought understood him".

Ms. Thuy Khue said that her husband, Mr. Le Tat Luyen, helped painter Le Ba Dang in the early days in communications work by building the first website. When Mr. Dang knew he was weak and moved house, he gave the couple many works and artifacts. "Mr. Dang gave us the information and we knew what to do with such artifacts" said Ms. Thuy Khue.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Nhan, Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Culture - the person who connected to bring the Le Ba Dang collection back to the country, said that, as someone who is knowledgeable about painting and has a high-paying job, Mr. Luyen spent money to buy many of Le Ba Dang's paintings.

According to Mr. Nhan, the paintings that Mr. and Mrs. Thuy Khue liked were immediately bought by Mr. and Mrs. Thuy Khue and were resold by Mr. Le Ba Dang at a cheap price or given as gifts. "For example, there are paintings bought back at the original price, which in the 70s and 80s of the last century were worth thousands of USD. Up to now, those paintings have an incalculable value, so this collection is very valuable", said Mr. Nhan.

In 2023, Mr. Le Tat Luyen and Mrs. Thuy Khue donated a total of 453 paintings and artifacts of the famous painter Le Ba Dang to Viet Nam, of which, the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum alone received 253 artifacts.

The story of "not putting all your eggs in one basket" and dividing the collection into two, of which one part is in the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum is also very interesting. Associate Professor, Dr. Lam Nhan said that when he went to Mrs. Thuy Khue's house in France to see each artifact and classify it, he realised that if the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum received all 500 artifacts, it would be a waste because it could not be displayed for the public to enjoy.

"If the collection could be brought to Da Nang, it would be better developed than if it were gathered in one place. I proposed and the two of them agreed. They spent a whole month dividing the collection into two parts", Associate Professor, Dr. Lam Nhan said.

Ms. Thuy Khue assessed that the legacy of the famous painter in Ho Chi Minh City was earlier and "relatively more comprehensive and magnificent". The rest of the collection in Da Nang, although smaller, has many differences.

"What the collection in Da Nang has that Ho Chi Minh City does not have, is the artifacts associated with Dang's artistic life. Students studying art when coming here will probably like it more because they can see the tools with their own eyes, from which they can imagine how he worked. That is a very good education", Ms. Khue said.

The tools used by the famous painter Le Ba Dang are being kept at the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum, and the printing blocks, prints, and molds are carefully preserved by Mr. Le Tat Luyen to become priceless heritages today. Photo: NGUYEN THO

The thrilling "survival" of the printing blocks

Ms. Nguyen Thi Trinh, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum, is happy that the shaping tools that the famous painter Le Ba Dang used to create works of art that are present all over the world are being preserved in the museum. "The presence of those artifacts here is priceless", Ms. Trinh said excitedly.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Nhan added that among the artifacts were hand-printed prints that the famous artist gave to Mr. Le Tat Luyen to destroy. "If these prints were allowed to leak out, it would be a mistake for the famous artist, because people could use these prints to fake paintings. But the fact that Mr. Luyen carefully preserved them became a blessing for future generations. Thanks to that, today we can admire that precious heritage," Mr. Nhan said.

I frankly asked Mr. Le Tat Luyen "What did you think about keeping the prints, zinc plates, etc. instead of destroying them?" "When the artist has finished printing the painting, they will smash the mold and throw it away. I think that throwing it in the trash won't solve the problem, we should just keep it carefully in the box, leave it there and then analyze it later. At that time, I didn't think anything of it, but then it was brought to the museum," Mr. Luyen said slowly "From these prints, students can look at them. Not to imitate, but to look to think, to create their own path in art".

Mr. Luyen said that not only Le Ba Dang's collection, at first he did not intend to collect because according to him "if he had the intention, it would be profiteering". He started buying paintings by the first female artist in Viet Nam - Le Thi Luu from the years 68-70 just to display in his house, including nude paintings that were difficult to sell.

The tools used by the famous painter Le Ba Dang are being kept at the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum, and the printing blocks, prints, and molds are carefully preserved by Mr. Le Tat Luyen to become priceless heritages today. Photo: NGUYEN THO

Then, in November 2018, he and his wife donated a collection of 29 extremely rare paintings by the female artist to Viet Nam. As for Le Ba Dang's collection, he bought it without thinking. It was all by chance and out of affection for the famous painter. Sharing the reason for donating the collection to Da Nang, Mr. Le Tat Luyen confided "When I die, the paintings will be left there, for nothing. I told my children this. They found it reasonable and agreed to donate to the museum. Don't make it too big a problem. If you are in it yourself, you will see that donating is something that needs to be done."

Reporting by NGUYEN THO - Translating by M.DUNG, V.DUNG