Frame size: 60.2 x 70.1 cm
Born in Hanoi in 1921, Bui Xuan Phai graduated from the Ecole des Beaux Arts de l’Indochine in 1945. Although he fled to the North in 1946, Phai returned to Hanoi in 1952 and set up a studio in his home, working with artists who had remained in or returned to Hanoi. When the Hanoi College of Fine Arts was re-opened in 1956, Phai was invited to teach there until 1957, when his controversial illustrations in the newspapers led to his resignation from the school. Recognized as one of the three pioneer artists of modern Vietnamese art, he was the most prolific among whom are Nguyen Tu Ngheim and Nguyen Sang.The inspiration for this abstract painting seems to be derived from aerial perspectives of a city, possibly Hanoi. Experimenting freely with lines and colours, Phai literally fills the entire pictorial surface in an approach to composition and colour that is unique to him.
