Hanoi in miniature by artist Ngoc Linh

Painter Ngoc Linh, 93, has released a unique publication called Hanoi I Love, which includes miniature paintings of the Hanoi landscape he painted 30 years ago.

On October 5, the National Archives Center III and the artist's family held a ceremony to launch the book.

The book, printed in Vietnamese and English, brings a "pocket-sized Hanoi" to readers who love art and the capital, with a collection of nearly 140 miniature drawings of Hanoi's landscapes and streets painted in 1991.

Artist Ngoc Linh in one of his recent exhibitions.

The highlight of this set of miniatures is Ngoc Linh's oil painting on the tiny area of the lottery ticket left over at the end of the day.

The works have two sizes: 7 x 10 cm and 10 x 14 cm (2 sheets together), fruits of the days the artist roamed the streets on his bicycle, painting the small corners of Hanoi.

According to the artist, he painted this series of miniatures not for lack of canvas, but to challenge himself. Painted in oil on tiny paper, the paintings retain all the details of the subject without losing the generous and youthful soul and style typical of Ngoc Linh.

The Huc Bridge and Hoan Kiem Lake.

Judging from this series of miniatures, artist Trinh Lu believes that these are the works that best represent Ngoc Linh's "contemporary folk" character.

Hanoi's art industry already has "Pho Phai" paintings by painter Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1988), now Hanoi has "Pho Linh" paintings that are bouncing around like nursery rhymes.

"It's really Ngoc Linh. He draws what he likes. For him, drawing is like playing. The more he draws, the more he loves Hanoi. Hanoi is lucky to have an artist like him. It seems that only he, with a youthful creative mind full of love for life, can see and paint Hanoi like in this series of miniatures," said artist Trinh Lu.

Lu believes that even without any knowledge of painting, viewers will be moved by these strange miniature works.

Temple of Literature.

"Because they have a beauty that is innocent yet profound, with surprises that make you laugh happily," said artist Trinh Lu.

For artist Ngoc Linh, these miniature paintings are a source of deep inspiration and unique material for him to create more than 160 derivative paintings of many different sizes and materials for the 1995 exhibition Hanoi I Love.

Only now has he released this set of miniatures with the hope that viewers can keep them to enjoy wherever they go, along with a passionate love for Hanoi.

Train guard at Cua Nam Street.

Meritorious artist Ngoc Linh (also known as Vi Van Bich) was born in 1930 and belongs to the Tay ethnic group. He was one of 22 students of the Resistance Fine Arts Course (1950-1954), trained by famous painters To Ngoc Van and Tran Van Can in the Viet Bac resistance war zone. Returning to Hanoi after peace was restored, artist Ngoc Linh was assigned to work at the Vietnam Feature Film Studio. He was responsible for the art of many famous films in the history of Vietnamese cinema, such as A Phu Couple (started in 1959, completed in 1972, directed by Mai Loc), Share a River (directed by Nguyen Hong Nghi, Pham Ky Nam, 1959), and August Star (1976, directed by Tran Dac).