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The making of a lacquer painting
The art of lacquer-painting is ancient, originating in China
more than a thousand years ago. The Vietnamese imported the
technique centuries ago, but it was mainly used for household
and decorative items.
After the French established École de Beux Arts d´Indochine
in Hanoi in 1925, the technique was applied to paintings, usually
with traditional landscape motives, thus creating a new art
form.
After Doi Moi, Vietnam’s version of perestroika, opening
up to the world in the mid-eighties, young artists have reinvented
the art form to create contemporary and interesting paintings.
Painting with lacquer is a meticulous and time-consuming
process. First one layer of lacquer is applied to a board
of plywood and left to dry. Next, thin cotton cloths soaked
in clay are attached to both sides of the plywood, and when
it has dired, the board is smoothed and polished. The process
is repeated five times.
Layers of black lacquer are then applied, the board is left
to dry and then polished. The final product appears as a piece
of black board, very smooth and durable. The several layers
of lacquer make it very resistant and it will not crack. It
may warp slightly due to fluctations in humidity or temperature,
but it can easily be straightened again.
The lacquer is a clear sap coming from any of six species
of trees growing in Vietnam. Harvesting lacquer is done the
same way as rubber or resin, making an incision in the tree
trunk and letting the sap flow.
Fresh lacquer is whitish but turns brown when exposed to air.
Black lacquer stems from the chemical reaction of stirring
lacquer with an iron rod over a period of several days.
Lacquer can be mixed with a various natural or artificial
dyes to produce the colours the artists want.
Most bright colours come from artificial dyes, whereas white
comes from using shells from duck eggs, which have a better
structure then hens’ eggs. Several shades of red are
extracted from a naturally occuring red mineral, cinnabar.
Several other materials may be used to make lacquer-paintings,
i.e. egg shells, sand, clay, gold leaf and silver leaf. Silver
is used below the layers of colours to create an effect of
immense luster, whereas gold leaf is often applied as the
final layer.
It may take several months to make a lacquer painting, depending
on the specific technique of the artist and how many layers
of lacquer are included.
One example of making a painting: after having prepared the
board, a composition is drawn on it with chalk. White colour
is added using eggshell fragments, which are minutely glued
to the cavities and the surface is then made smooth. Clear
lacquer is applied and left to dry, and the pattern is polished.
Next, a basic layer of colour is applied to the board and
left to dry. Then silver leaf is stuck to the lacquer and
clear lacquer is applied to cover the leaves. Now new layers
of coloured lacquer are applied with a brush, each with a
different colour, and in between clear lacquer is applied.
Altogether, the artist may use up to ten layers of coloured
and clear lacquer, and between each layer, the board is left
to dry and afterwards smoothed and polished.
The most important part of the process takes place after the
final layer has been applied. Then the artist rubs and polishes
different parts of the painting until the preferred colours
are obtained. Since different colours are located in different
layers, the rubbing must me done with great care, using fine
sandpaper and a mix of charcoal powder and human hair.
The artist must remember in which layer is what colour and
be extremely careful not to rub too hard because the painting
will be irretrievably spoilt if the rubbing goes through the
layer, the artist wants to keep. A specific colour nuance
can be made by carefully rubbing the interface between two
layers of colour.
A lacquer-painting is very durable and strong and not easily
damaged.The surface is protective, and the painting can easily
be polished by the palm of the hand to make it cleaner or
more lustrous.
A Vietnamese lacquerpainting is truly a piece of art that
may last for generations.
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