Nguyen Tri Minh, Elephant, 1970

Oil on canvas
95 x 95 cm (visible), 102 x 102 cm (framed)
Condition: Good

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Nyugen Tri Minh (Vietnamese, 1924-2010) was a painter celebrated for his impressionistic landscapes and innovation use of the palette knife in oil painting. Born in Saigon's Chợ Lớn district, he graduated valedictorian from the Gia Định School of Decorative Arts in 1946. In 1949, he became one of the first in southern Vietnam to work in oil exclusively with a palette knife. His career gained international momentum when he participated in the inaugural Biennale de Paris in 1959 and the First Saigon Painting and Sculpture Exhibition in 1962, where artists from over 20 countries were represented. That same year, he received a scholarship to the United States, travelling to major cities and producing around 200 works, half in oil and half in watercolour, characterised by a neo-impressionist style.

After 1975, Nyugen settled permanently in the United States, teaching art in New York and later in Dallas, Texas. His later works often depicted lotus ponds, bamboo groves, and Southern river markets, reflecting nostalgia for his homeland. He passed in Dallas in 2010, and his paintings remain sought after in Vietnam and abroad.

The owner, an art teacher, befriended the artist and purchased several of their works in the late 1980s. The collection reflects the discerning choices of someone trained in art and experienced in teaching it.

Purchased directly from the artist in 1970.

(Photographed in August 2025)