The Wood Art Gallery, Part 1

The artist told the Woods he always ends up  painting himself despite his intentions when he begins a work.

We all have art on our walls. But owning a few prized paintings does not a collector make. Chas and Mimi Wood are Art Collectors (capitalization intended).  I was thrilled to have the chance to visit their private gallery. It was a fabulous -- and educational -- morning.

Until about 20 years ago, the Woods' collection focused on 20th century American art. But then they retired. They decided to deaccession the 160 works they owned and begin again. Their plan was to travel the world and buy art along the way. It's hard to imagine anything more glorious.

Their current collection contains a predominance of work by contemporary Vietnamese artists. To say I know nothing about Vietnamese art -- contemporary or otherwise -- would be an understatement.  Thankfully, Chas was full of information that he generously shared during our exploration of the gallery.  I apologize to the artists for not getting the names and titles of the works shown. (Not surprisingly, the Woods haven't installed wall cards with their collection.)

The simplicity of this work struck me as well as the Woods.

Until the 1920s, Vietnamese art consisted primarily of sculptures and decorative work in temples and pagodas. In 1925, the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts l'Indochine was established. It was a good will mission of sorts by France, which had colonized Vietnam in the 1880s. And while there's much to be lamented about Vietnam's political history, the creation of what is now the Vietnamese University of Fine Arts was a pivotal point in the country's art history. Vietnamese artists were exposed to Western art traditions for the first time. They began to paint on canvas and panels. The foundation was being laid for contemporary Vietnamese art.

Laquer painting done by an artist of her daughter who died at the age of 19. The night blooming cactus represents the afterlife.

Not surprisingly, the existence of North Vietnam and South Vietnam as separate nations from 1954-1975 had an impact on what was happening in the art world. North Vietnamese artists created under strict Communist rules about what was acceptable. Nudes and abstract art were forbidden from being displayed. (Their mere existence was likely frowned upon as well.)

Meanwhile, modern art came into bloom in South Vietnam in the 1970s. Artists were free to openly explore their creative processes. Art galleries--previously disallowed under Communist rule--sprung into existence.

This development came to a screeching halt with reunification of the country under Communist rule in 1975. Once again, stringent rules were imposed that controlled all manner of life, including the arts.

This artist told the Woods "the canvas is my enemy" and that the word  "check" translates into "watch yourself."

Galleries that had flourished were shuttered. Artists and patrons took to using spy craft to effect art sales, with paintings being "forgotten" in a café once an envelope filled with cash had been furtively passed to the artist by an intermediary.

The seesaw shifted again in 1986 with the occurrence of Doi Moi. Doi Moi literally translates into "to make a change." In hopes of saving Vietnam's economy, the Communist party introduced a number of free market economic reforms. It was the Vietnamese equivalent of perestroika. And with the liberalization of controls over the Vietnamese economy, so came liberalization of controls over artists and the art market.

Today, art lovers like the Woods are free to visit galleries and artist's studios in Hanoi and across the country. The works shown here are only a sliver of what they've collected. As I said, it was quite the morning.

Up next: A look at more of the Woods' collection, including some paintings from a Rwandan art collective.