The exhibition opened at the old house at No. 87 Ma May Street, Hanoi and is scheduled to end on Feburary 14.
Hang Trong paintings deal with a variety of subject matters: “four seasons” with plants, flowers and birds; “dancing peacock” symbolising peace and wealth; "tiger" which contain messages legible to traditional eastern eyes.
Hang Trong craftsman starts with woodblocks to print black outlines, then draw in details and colour the picture in by hand. Because the main part of the process is made by the craftsman's hands, each Hang Trong picture is an original, making them more valuable to collectors.
The paper used for Hang Trong paintings is called xuyến chỉ, which differs from the natural colour of the paper used for Dong Ho painting. Hang Trong paintings are usually bright and attractive because pigments are used, with principal colours being pink, blue, green, red and yellow.
Fine arts researcher Phan Ngoc Khue said that these paintings are invaluable to understanding the aesthetic, cultural and belief systems of Hanoians of the past.
Dozens of Dong Ho fork paintings are also being displayed at the exhibition.
Artisan Nguyen Dang Che said that, unlike Hang Trong paintings, Dong Ho paintings are printed on điệp paper, which can be obtained in almost the same way as dó paper. The bark of the mulberry tree, which normally is grown in Tuyen Quang Province, is soaked in water for months, then mixed with powders of seashells, the origin of the paper's name, and glutinous rice to make sheets of paper.
The last stage of making Dong Ho painting is the printing. A woodblock is applied with paint and pressed on a sheet of paper like a stamp. The process is repeated with different colours until the craftsman is satisfied with the painting.
There is one woodcut for the outline and several others for each colour. The blocks are carefully engraved by hand so that they can be preserved through generations. The finished picture is covered with a layer of rice paste to make it more durable and protect the image. Then it is left to dry in the sun.
According to the management board of Hanoi Old Quarter, thousands of people visited the house at 87 on Ma May Street during Tet. A number of them bought the pictures and even asked for the artists' information.
