Chinesischer Modestil

Now that we have learned a bit more of the origins and starting canvas of Vietnamese silk hand painting (see our previous post), let’s discover the style deeper!

🖼 Earliest pieces of Vietnamese silk painting date as far back as the 15th and 16th centuries! Most pieces often portray Vietnamese countryside, natural landscapes and the daily lives of Vietnamese people. The technique is elegant and soft, emphasizing the peacefulness and beauty of Vietnamese folk and their inspiring aesthetics.

🖼 Before painting, the silk is stretched on a wooden frame. Silk painters must have an intimate knowledge of the material to be able to fully exploit its glossiness. The painting is usually first sketched out, as painting silk means every wrong stroke of the brush becomes irreversible.

🖼 When painting, the artist often paints first with the lighter colours and then moves to darker colours, using several layers to create the beauty and depth of a silk painting. Often parts of the painting, such as the sky, are purposely not painted to let the texture of the silk fabric become part of the painting.

🖼 Vietnamese silk art differs from Chinese or Japanese silk painting due to its distinct use of colours and its technique of drawing on and washing the silk to ensure the colours are absorbed transparently into silk threats.

Is it that time of the month again? Yes, time for our November series! This time let’s learn together about Vietnamese Silk Hand Painting!

🐛 The traditional art of Vietnamese silk painting originates from an earlier art form of drawing and painting on rice paper. However, the style goes deeper and is unique for its use of the silk canvas to create graze, elegance and bring mystique into paintings. A lot of this depends on the quality of silk used, also serving as a background (‘starting point’) for the painting.

🐛 But Vietnam’s long tradition and mastery of silk production (first made in the region around 4000 years ago) means there is plenty of high-quality canvas to choose from. Once considered a luxury only for nobility, silk made from the cocoons of silkworms is a special trade reserved only for expert artisans.

🐛 Did you know, that it actually takes around 3,000 silkworms, consuming 104 kg of mulberry leaves, to make just 1 kg of silk? 5 to 10 of the fine threads are twisted together to form a yarn of raw silk, which is then dyed and woven on wooden looms to create the final beautiful fabric Vietnamese silk artists can use to bring further splendour to the material.