Vietnamese Aesthetics From 1925 Onwards

Abstract

Twentieth century art in Viêt-Nam underwent immense changes due to the nation's encounters with the West, through colonialism and two great wars. This thesis examines the significant impact of architecture, clothing painting and sculpture on the development of Vietnamese aesthetics. The very public nature of architecture and clothing will be used as a cultural backdrop for the changing aesthetic ideals in painting and sculpture. The thesis examines the aesthetic merits of Socialist Realism, introduced after reunification in 1975, in particular, its relationship to the art of the Republic of Viêt-Nam (South Viêt-Nam) from 1954 to 1975. Vietnamese post-war art historians have consistently omitted the significant cultural developments of this period in their writings. A study of this distinctive era will clarify aesthetic changes in the last decades of the twentieth century. After a long period of isolation and ideological constraint, remarkable cultural changes occurred when Viêt-Nam re-established contact with the outside world. This thesis will present the subsequent changes in aesthetics, as an attempt to balance tradition and modernity, within the context of market reforms and the internationalisation of Vietnamese art. These events had a significant impact on the contemporary art market in Viêt-Nam. Through the changes that art history has noted, this thesis argues that the interactions with outsiders were either an impetus or a pressure for changes in Viêt-Nam's drive for modernity.