Born in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Trung Tin (b.1933) is a self-taught artist who began painting in 1969. He became a full-time artist in 1975 after the fall of Ho Chi Minh City, and moved in a circle of artists that included Bui Xuan Phai. He has had a solo exhibition in Vietnam, and has participated in group shows on Vietnamese art in the Netherlands, Singapore, Japan and the United States. The 1970s was Tin’s most prolific period and when impoverished for materials, he would work on newspaper, which served as a diary of Tin and the world.Tin’s works are largely a reflection of his feelings towards the war and its impact on the people. To him, the woman and mother figure symbolize strength; painted here is a woman, confidently stretched back, relaxing. This work would have been unacceptable then in Vietnam as Social Realism was the officially sanctioned art style.
