His art works as a rare evident of Vietnamese painting style at the point of time between Neo-Classic and Impression style.
Born in Nghe An provine. The first Vietnamese to study at the Ecole Nationale de Beaux-Arts de Paris from 1891 to 1894, one of professor J.L.Geromere’s student in neo-classicsm. Le Van Mien was the first Vietnamese painter to assimilate Western academic oil painting, with the menthod of French School of the late 19th century. His few remaining works demonstrate that his brush was firmly descriptive, accurate and experienced in colour and light. Most of what is his left work are portraits of his friends and relatives.
After several years he stopped painting and began to teach at Vinh and Hue. He was head Master of Quốc Tử Giám in Hue.
His relatives still work in art field today as Le Huy Trap, Le Huy Tiep (one presented a work named The Girl and White Dog in 1976 that is a impression style as Lucian Freud painter).
Two works in the Fine Arts Museum of Vietnam:
Portrait of Confucian Scholar Mền (Tú Mền), Oil, Fine Arts Museum of Vietnam
Literary Interpretation (Bình Văn), Oil, Fine Arts Museum of Vietnam
24th June 1966, the Portrait of Confucian Scholar Mền (Tú Mền) firstly presented in Fine Arts Museum of Vietnam. The critics see it as a oil portrait of standard of French neo-classic of 18th century and it figured at well-proportioned ratios following style of Vietnamese portrait drawing. There are parallel sentences at the two sides of works in Demotic script.
20th Dec 1972 the second works of Le Huy Mien was collected from Hanoi family on Kham Thien street that accompanied by Mrs.Le Ha Yen (one of the first general staff of Fine Arts Museum of Vietnam, under leading by Nguyen Do Cung - The first Diretor of Fine Arts Museum of Vietnam). This Vietnamese heritage is a fortune gift because at the 26th Dec 1972, Kham Thien street was bombed and destroyed by B52 air force of America.
(Source: Dr.Philip Nguyen from www.ramgallery.net, 02 June 2013)
