The Art
To Ngoc Van (1906-1954) is one of the most well-known Vietnamese painters of the early stage of the art of creating social reality. He is considered as an excellent talent. He was ranked third in the chart on "four immortals" of Vietnamese painting in the twentieth century. Also, he is one of the top eight painters of the country awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize phase I (1996), a noble award of Vietnam, these achievements have contributed greatly to the development of the nation.
"The girl next to the lily" is an oil painting created by painter To Ngoc Van in 1943. The painting depicts a portrait of a young woman wearing a white ao-dai next to a white lily vase. This work is considered to be the most significant painting in the composing career of painter To Ngoc Van as well as one of the most typical representatives of Vietnamese art in the early 20th century.
To Ngoc Van painted the picture "The girl next to the lily", expressing the relationship of two subjects: the young girl in her twenties and the white lilies, which are considered as symbols of purity.
The painting does not evoke a specific character portrait, it is like a symbol of purity, lyrical, and something about the serenity of Ha Thanh young woman.
With a truly romantic calligraphy, the work depicts a portrait of a young woman in a white ao-dai, naturally tilting her head towards a vase of white lilies. The girl's figure and the surrounding details and colors form a simple, gentle shape. Delicate layout, reasonable proportions, with the body movement, the image of a girl lying in the spiral of the golden ratio, the figure forms an arc like embracing white flowers, looking still. The painting expresses the beauty, grace and elegance of the pre-war Ha Thanh woman.
Inspired by the paintings, many authors have produced famous Ao Dai designs such as Nguyen Anh Duc, Nguyen Gia Tri ...
It is difficult to name all the emotions when looking at the girl in pure white ao dai, in her hand is a bouquet of gentle lilies standing in the early summer sun, here the image of a Vietnamese girl in a white ao-dai cuddling beside the lilies becomes immortal with the oil painting "Young Woman by the lily" by artist To Ngoc Van.