The Artist

1957 Hanoi Vietnam

Bui Huu Hung came to the attention of the international art world in the early 90’s with his works portraying scenes of ancient royalty and rituals of traditional life of the Vietnamese. Using the time-honored medium of unique Vietnamese lacquer Hung rose to prominence in the nascent days of Vietnam’s emergence to the outside world.

A graduate of the Vietnam Fine Arts University in Hanoi, the artist set up his own private lacquer studio, called Nha San in 1986 and rather than exhibiting in Vietnam, he started his exhibitions overseas in Poland and Bulgaria to great reception. In the early 90’s Hung starting exhibiting in Hanoi where he quickly rose to the attention of many international galleries worldwide –– Hong Kong, Singapore, London UK, Tokyo, Japan and other well-known art hubs.

In 2003 he participated in the First Beijing Art Biennale, China and in 2006 he was invited to exhibit in the Hanoi-Rome exhibition, The Dragon and The Butterfly at the Victoria Museum in Rome, Italy. He continues to exhibit widely and his works can be seen in the collections of many hotels within Vietnam and internationally.

He is currently working on a mammoth project of building a private museum for lacquer, to be used for educating the public about the lacquer practice and its history, honoring this unique Vietnamese art medium as part of the Vietnamese national heritage.

The Mandarin 1994

This piece is evocative of the reverence and honor paid to one’s ancestors and education. The burning of the votive paper offerings a symbol of devotion to ancestors from whence it all began.