Le Dinh Nghien – the last Hang Trong painter

For generations, residents of Hanoi bought Hang Trong paintings to decorate their homes for Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year). In the past, there were two streets in the old part of the city where artists lived, worked and sold their paintings. Today, there is just one man who carries on this tradition.

Le Dinh Nghien has been making paintings since he was young boy, the only one of his siblings to take on the art of his father. Hang Trong are works on paper that combine woodblock printing and hand painting. When Mr. Nghien creates a piece, he is working with the same woodblock used by his father and by generations of family artists before them.

While Mr. Nghien’s son has expressed an interest in painting, it is not clear if the tradition will continue or if Le Dinh Nghien will, in fact, be the last Hang Trong painter.

For more information on Hang Trong painting, click here

click here to see a video the includes Mr. Nghien