Ho Huu Thu, Untitled (Moon Season), 1992
Oil on canvas
65 x 55 cm (visible), 78 x 68 x 3 cm (framed)
Condition: Very good
Acquired from Cafe Gallery, Singapore.
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The female nude in Ho Huu Thu's work is treated less as an anatomical study than as an idealised, almost devotional figure, rendered through his signature technique of layered light and translucency. Rather than the direct, life-model tradition common to academic nude drawing, his women appear softened and dreamlike, closer to spiritual or symbolic presences than to observed bodies.
This approach was shaped by his shift away from early Western influences like Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall toward Buddhist philosophy and the lacquer tradition of Nguyen Gia Tri. The result is a nude stripped of overt sensuality or provocation, positioned instead within a broader vocabulary of innocence, peace and reverence for the female form.
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Ho Huu Thu (Vietnamese, 1940–2024) was a prominent Vietnamese painter known for his lyrical figurative works and mastery of lacquer painting. Born in Nghệ An, Vietnam, he graduated from the National Fine Arts College of Saigon in 1964 and later taught there before 1975. His practice often centres on female figures, rural landscapes, and scenes of Vietnamese life, expressed through harmonious compositions, soft tonal palettes, and a distinctive balance between traditional Vietnamese aesthetics and modern artistic approaches.
Throughout his career, Ho developed a deeply personal style marked by poetic atmosphere and refined control of colour and space. He was particularly recognised for his large-scale lacquer paintings, in which he explored themes of nature, beauty, and human experience through serene and contemplative imagery. His works have been exhibited internationally, including in Singapore, Malaysia, France, Japan, and the United States, and are held in institutional and private collections, including the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts and the Singapore Art Museum.
(Photographed in June 2026)