(VOVworld) – Digital technology has created a revolution in portraiture. People can take digital cameras anywhere to capture the special moments in their lives. But, one old man in the heart of Hanoi’s Old Quarter is sticking with black and white portrait drawings. He is 75-year-old artist Nguyen Bao Nguyen whose talented hands and patience infuses soul into his portrait drawings. On this week’s Sunday Show, we’ll tell you about his passion with this art.

Bao Nguyen is drawing himself (Source: diendan.nguoihanoi.net)

Bao Nguyen says passion and fate are the two words that best explain why he has stuck with his art for more than 50 years. He recalls that his childhood dream was to become a scientist, so he chose to study physics at university. But, he failed to achieve his dream due to a serious illness which struck him down during final exams. He became a portrait painter by chance. One day, walking along the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Nguyen stopped to watch a painter at work and immediately fell in love with the job. Bao Nguyen says “Once I walked along Hang Dao, Hang Ngang streets, a district of portrait painting shops. I watched attentively and I think that’s why I wanted to pursue this art as I really liked drawing. I asked to be taught how to draw portraits, but no one accepted, so I decided to learn it by myself”.
Nguyen says one has to practice for 3-4 years to become a decent portrait painter, 6-8 years or one’s whole life to become a good painter. He adds that this job requires patience, great concentration, and painting knowledge. Nguyen considers portrait drawing not just his job, but his life’s passion. Old, blurry photos become fresh, lively portraits through Nguyen’s thin fingers. Once when he went to visit his relatives, he was asked to draw a portrait from a tiny, old photo. The more he drew, the more the widow cried because the portrait was very lifelike. This became one of his unforgettable memories of portrait drawing. Bao Nguyen: “Some customers have been very moving and unforgettable. Once I received a letter from a foreign customer saying that his mother cried when she saw her child through a portrait drawn by a Vietnamese painter. It was just a letter, but I was very moved. Another customer wrote to thank me and told me that he considers the portrait I did a treasure and said he will keep it forever”.

Many portraits of film stars at Nguyen’s shop (Source: nguoihanoi.com.vn)

At Nguyen’s small shop at 47 Hang Ngang Street, portraits of his favorite film stars like Marilyn Monroe, and Clark Gable adorn the walls. With only a few brushes, a small eraser, an easel, and ink made from lamp soot, Nguyen deftly captures the mood and the spirit of his subjects. Visitors are captivated by the wrinkles on the forehead of an old woman, the bright smile on the face of a mountain girl, or the upturned face of a soldier. Nguyen said it was a big challenge to him when meritorious teacher Vu The Khoi, descendant of the great Vietnamese culturist Vu Tong Phan, came and asked him to draw a portrait of Phan without any photos of him, just his poems. 

Artist Bao Nguyen is drawing Vietnamese culturist Vu Tong Phan through his poems (Source: nguoihanoi.com.vn)

The Khoi: “My family provided Nguyen Bao Nguyen photos of three generations. Nguyen asked for access to Phan’s poems. I still remember that I read poems to him the first day. At that time, he just listened and asked to keep the poems. While he was looking at photos of three generations, his wife was reading the poems. I think this reveals the secret of his success. He made every effort to penetrate the soul and style of Phan”.

Here’s Bao Nguyen: “I asked my wife to read the poems of Vu Tong Phan and his life story while I was drawing. It seemed some miraculous things were helping me, and the portrait of Phan gradually appeared. A week later the portrait was completed”.

Receiving the portrait, Khoi was amazed by the perfect likeness of the portrait. He said: “The elderly people in my family were very pleased with the portrait. They said it was him with his clear eyes and easy manners and attitude. Bao Nguyen also portrayed Phan’s generosity”.

The 1950s and 1960s were the golden age of portrait drawing. Nowadays, with the robust development of digital photography, the demand for portrait painting has fallen dramatically. Speaking about the future of portrait drawing, for a moment the eyes of Nguyen light up as he says that although digital cameras can do his job much more quickly and efficiently, some people still want high quality portraits drawn with skill in the traditional way.
Here are opinions of young people about portrait drawing:
Thanh Long: “If I have the chance, I want to capture the memorable moment in a portrait drawing”.
Thuy Linh: “I think portrait drawing is very special because it carries our national tradition and is very ancient”.

Nguyen’s small shop at 47 Hang Ngang Street (Source: camnangdulich.com)

If you’re ever in bustling Hang Ngang Street, make sure you drop in at the small shop where the thin, old, master of his trade sits, totally absorbed in his art. No matter what’s happening outside, Bao Nguyen is transported elsewhere by his passion.