Vietnam University of Fine Arts

{{Short description|Art school in Hanoi, Vietnam}} {{Infobox university | name = Vietnam University of Fine Arts | native_name = {{langx|vi|Trường Đại học Mỹ thuật Việt Nam}} | image_name = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | latin_name = | motto = | motto_lang = | mottoeng = | established = {{start date|1925}} | founders = Victor Tardieu and Nam Sơn | closed = | affiliation = Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bộ Văn hóa Thể thao và Du lịch |url=https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/co-cau-to-chuc/khoi-truong.htm |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=bvhttdl.gov.vn |language=vi}}</ref> | type = Public, Art school | endowment = {{currency|35329000000|VND}} | campus_size = {{convert|10156|m2|acre|abbr=on}} | budget = | officer_in_charge = | chairman = | chancellor = | president = Phạm Thị Thanh Tú | vice-president = | superintendent = | provost = | vice_chancellor = | rector = | principal = Dr Đặng Thị Phong Lan | dean = | director = | head_label = | head = | academic_staff = 60 {{small|(2024/25)}} | administrative_staff = 35 {{small|(2024/25)}} | students = 612 {{small|(2024/25)}} | undergrad = 566 {{small|(2024/25)}} | postgrad = 46 {{small|(2024/25)}} | doctoral = | other = | city = Hanoi | state = | province = | country = Vietnam | former_names = Indochina College of Fine Arts (1925-1945)<br>The College of Fine Arts(1945-1950)<br>Vietnam Intermediate School of Fine Arts (1950-1957){{Sup|a}} <br>Vietnam College of Fine Arts (1957 - 1981){{Sup|b}} <br>Hanoi University of Fine Arts (1981-2008) | free_label = Publication | free = Journal of Fine Arts Research ({{langx|vi|Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Mỹ thuật}}) | website = {{URL|http://mythuatvietnam.edu.vn}} | logo = | footnotes = <hr /> <div style="text-align: left;"> {{Sup|a}} In the Vietnamese education system, an Intermediate School offers intermediate diplomas, which are above high school level but below a college diploma or associate degree.

{{Sup|b}} A college in Vietnam awards associate degrees, equivalent to diplomas in some countries and below the level of Bachelor’s degrees.<br /> </div> }} The '''Vietnam University of Fine Arts''' (formerly ''Hanoi College of Fine Arts'') is an art school in Hanoi, Vietnam originally established in Tonkin under French colonial rule in 1925.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081201183049/http://www.particulargallery.com/Articles/Articles4.aspx Art Articles – Vietnamese Modern Paintings – The Pioneers]}}</ref> The university has trained many of Vietnam's leading artists and each year it participates in many cultural exchanges with sister institutions overseas.

==History== === French colonial administrations (1925-1945) === The history of the Vietnam University of Fine Arts can be traced back to the colonial '''''École des Beaux Arts de l’Indochine''''' (1925–45) (the ''Indochina College of Fine Arts'') which trained successive generations of Vietnamese students — and a smaller number of students from Cambodia and Laos — in the western art tradition, laying the groundwork for the development of a distinctive Vietnamese style of modern art. The ''École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine'' in Hanoi was the predecessor of the Hanoi College of Fine Arts, which went on to become the present day university.

The ''école'' was established by the French colonial government, along similar lines to the ''École Nationale des Beaux-Arts d’Alger'', established 1843, and ''École des Beaux-Arts de Tunis'', established 1923. The school was for all students who were then known to the French as Indochinese — including Tonkinese (''Bắc Kỳ''), Annamese (''Trung Kỳ''), Cochin Chinese (i.e., not ethnic Chinese but inhabitants of ''Nam Kỳ''), Khmer, and Lao — although inevitably most students were drawn from Hanoi itself.<ref>Nora A. Taylor Painters in Hanoi: an ethnography of Vietnamese art, page 13, 2009: "More importantly, it was during the initial years of l'Ecole des beaux-arts d'Indochine that what were known then as Indochinese — which included Annamese, Tonkinese, Khmer, and Lao — students began ..."</ref><ref>The Country of Memory: Remaking the Past in Late Socialist Vietnam, page 111 Hue-Tam Ho Tai, 2001 "In 1925, the Ecole des Beaux Arts d'Indochine (EBAI) was founded, and some twenty students enrolled. Most of the students were from local upper-class educated Hanoi families. A couple of students came from Cambodia and Laos, along with a few colonial residents. Classes in composition, anatomy, perspective, painting, and drawing were held in conjunction with a few classes in "indigenous" arts, painting on ..."</ref>

==== Directors and teaching staff ==== thumb|Victor Tardieu, a co-founder of École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine.

thumb|Nguyễn Nam Sơn, co-founder of the school and assistant to Tardieu.

The ''École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine'' was managed by the French academic and painter, Victor Tardieu .<ref name="ArtsofAsia">''Arts of Asia'': Volume 39. 2-3. Arts of Asia Publications, 2009.</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2022}}{{#tag:ref|Nguyen Binh Minh. Deputy Director, Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, photographs by Nguyen Kim Long ... from 1909, but those that did, such as Le Van Mien (1873–1943), Nguyen Van Tho (Nam Son) (1890 1973) and Thang 'Iran Phenh (1895 ?) ... FASI was established bv the French administration in 1925 under the directorship of French artist Victor Tardieu"<ref name=ArtsofAsia/>{{Page needed|date=September 2022}}|group=nb}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Essays on MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY VIETNAMESE ART|publisher=Singapore Art Museum|year=2009|isbn=9789810831592|pages=5}}</ref> Tardieu was awarded the ''Prix de l'Indochine'' and travelled to Indochina in 1920 where he was commissioned to paint murals for the Indochina University and the Central Library in Hanoi.<ref name=":1" /> Tardieu directed the ''École'' until his death in 1937,<ref name=":0" /> and was succeeded by the sculptor Évariste Jonchère who was director from 1938 to 1945.<ref name="Joubert">Joubert, Lindy . (2008). 'Educating in the Arts: The Asian Experience: Twenty-Four Essays.' Volume 11 of ''Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects''. Springer. p. 43. {{ISBN|1402063865}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|From the source: "A rare example was in Vietnam in 1937, when sculptor Evariste Jonchère (1892–1956) came from France and took over the Directorship of the École until 1945. While his own work was more modernist than that of Tardieu."<ref name=Joubert/>|group=nb}}

thumb|Teachers and students of the school in 1926. Tardieu was pictured 4th from the left in the front row. Nam Sơn was the last person on the right, also in the front row.

Many teachers at the school were winners of the ''Prix de l'Indochine'', an annual award for French artists established by the French government to encourage painters to relocate to the colonies. From 1926, the award-winning artist was required to spend two years in Indochina on a study tour and a year of teaching at the ''École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine''.<ref name=":0" /> Teachers included Joseph Inguimberty,<ref>''Arts of Asia:'' Volume 39. :2-3. p. 94. Arts of Asia Publications, 2009.</ref> and Alix Aymé, wife of the deputy commander of the French forces.

==== Curriculum of the ''École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine'' ==== The curriculum aimed to combine Western and Eastern art traditions, and to train artists and teachers.<ref name=":0" /> Students took courses on drawing, linear perspective, open-air painting, and oil painting based on the curriculum at the ''École des Beaux-Arts'' in Paris. <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The ''École'' contributed to introducing Western oil painting in Vietnam, which played a role in modern Vietnamese painting. <ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Nora Annesley|title=Painters in Hanoi : An Ethnography of Vietnamese Art|publisher=NUS Press|year=2009|isbn=9789971694531|pages=22–41}}</ref>

===After 1945=== The ''Musée Maurice Long'' across the street from the ''École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine'' was destroyed in the 1945 Japanese coup d'état, and the ''École'' subsequently closed its doors.<ref name=":1" /> The ''École'' was taken over by the provisional government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam after the August Revolution of 1945. When the struggle against the French intensified in 1950, the college was moved to Đại Từ, Thai Nguyen in the Viet Bac Resistance Zone, under the direction of painter Tô Ngọc Vân.

In 1954 professors and students returned to Hanoi where, in 1957, a new Hanoi College of Fine Art was established under the direction of painter Tran Van Can.

Nguyễn Đỗ Cung, a student at the ''École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine'' from 1929–1934, founded the Museum of Fine Arts in 1963.<ref name=":1" />

In 1981 this institution became the Hanoi University of Fine Art. The university offers five-year Bachelor of Fine Art programmes and two-year full-time or three-year part-time Master of Arts programmes in Painting, Graphic Art and Sculpture, and four-year Bachelor of Fine Art Education programmes.<ref>[http://www.culturalprofiles.org.uk/viet_nam/units/1575.html Việt Nam: Hà Nội University of Fine Art] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921003710/http://www.culturalprofiles.org.uk/viet_nam/units/1575.html |date=September 21, 2007 }}</ref><ref>[http://iapone.org/Pages/Phai_SITES.html Bui Xuan Phai] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827090928/http://iapone.org/Pages/Phai_SITES.html |date=August 27, 2007 }}</ref>

== Governance == After Vietnam declared its independence from France in 1945, the university came under the administration of the provisional Vietnamese government at the time, specifically as part of the Ministry of Education. Since 1950, the university has been governed by various iterations of what is currently the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. However, it is a separate legal entity to the ministry and has its own financial account<ref>{{Cite web |title=Giới thiệu chung |trans-title=General Introduction |url=http://mythuatvietnam.edu.vn/gioi-thieu-chung/ |access-date=2026-01-29 |website=mythuatvietnam.edu.vn |language=vi}}</ref>.

As is the case with all public universities in Vietnam, the university's highest decision-making body is its council ({{langx|vi|hội đồng}}), led by a president ({{langx|vi|chủ tịch hội đồng quản trị}}), currently Ms. Phạm Thị Thanh Tú. The university's day to day operation is headed by its principal ({{langx|vi|hiệu trưởng}}), currently Dr. Đặng Thị Phong Lan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-25 |title=Báo cáo thực hiện công khai năm học 2024-2025 |trans-title=Annual Report of the 2024/25 Academic Year |url=http://mythuatvietnam.edu.vn/ba-cong-khai/bao-cao-thuc-hien-cong-khai-nam-hoc-20242025.html |access-date=2026-01-29 |website=mythuatvietnam.edu.vn}}</ref>

The university is subject to inspections by the Ministry of Education and Training and publishes annual report of its finances and activities, as mandated by law<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ba công khai |trans-title=Public reports |url=http://mythuatvietnam.edu.vn/ba-cong-khai/ |access-date=2026-01-29 |website=mythuatvietnam.edu.vn |language=vi}}</ref>.

== Notable alumni == === Alumni of the ''École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine'' === Students included Lê Phổ, Vũ Cao Đàm, Tô Ngọc Vân, Nguyễn Phan Chánh, the first to exhibit silk paintings in Paris in 1931, Nguyễn Gia Trí, known for his lacquer painting, the Roman Catholic painter Lê Văn Đệ, Nguyễn Tường Lân, the painter Lê Thị Lựu who emigrated to Paris, Nguyễn Sáng, Nguyễn Khang (painter), Huỳnh Văn Gấm, Phan Kế An, Dương Bích Liên and Tạ Tỵ.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Hai thieu nu va em be.JPG|thumb|”Two ladies and a baby” by Tô Ngọc Vân, an alumn and former lecturer at the institution.]] === Alumni since 1945 === ==== Alumni of Tô Ngọc Vân's Resistance Class ==== Graduates who studied in the resistance zone under Tô Ngọc Vân included Trần Lưu Hậu.

==== Alumni of Hanoi College of Fine Arts (1957–1975) ==== This cohort included Phạm Thanh Tâm,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vietnamtheartofwar.com/pham-thanh-tam/|title=Phạm Thanh Tâm Biography|last=|first=|date=|website=Vietnam: The Art of War|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Phạm Thanh Tâm (1932-2019) |url=https://witnesscollection.com/project/pham-thanh-tam/ |access-date= |website=Witness Collection}}</ref> Phạm Đỗ Đồng<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vietnamtheartofwar.com/1940/03/15/pham-do-dong-phaim-noa-noang-biography/|title=Phạm Đỗ Đồng Biography|last=|first=|date=15 March 1940|website=Vietnam: The Art of War|access-date=}}</ref> and Bùi Quang Ánh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vietnamtheartofwar.com/1940/11/04/bui-quang-anh-biography/|title=Bùi Quang Ánh Biography|last=|first=|date=4 November 1940|website=Vietnam: The Art of War|access-date=}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Reflist|group=nb}}

* Paliard Pierre, Un art vietnamien: penser d'autres modernités Le projet de Victor Tardieu pour l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine à Hanoï en 1924, Paris, L'Hamattan, 2014 * 2 Philippe CHAPLAIN : https://www.patrimoine.asso.fr/hanoi-lecole-des-beaux-arts-de-lindochine-truong-dai-hoc-my-thuat-viet-nam-documents-pendant-la-periode-francaise-pour-servir-lhistoire-de-lecole/

{{DEFAULTSORT: Vietnam University of Fine Arts}} Category:Universities in Hanoi Category:Universities and colleges established in 1925 Category:1925 establishments in Vietnam Category:French colonial architecture in Vietnam Category:Universities in Vietnam Category:Art schools