I have always liked Vietnamese art. A few years ago, I bought one piece by
Le Thiet Cuong. And last year, when I visited Hanoi for the first time, I bought another piece. But where the first piece was an original, this was a work in the style of Minh Son, and similar to some of his paintings (a sort of impressionistic, water liles-like foreground, with a more delicate background. Hanoi has a number of little reproduction shops which churn out copies of more famous works, or paintings in the style of a famous artist.
The original would probably have cost me upwards of US$600. But I was not comfortable carrying such an expensive piece back to Singapore. My copy, on the other hand, cost me all of US$35. I carried it from Hanoi to Halong Bay, all rolled up. I had to get it reframed once back in Singapore and after some procrastination, finally hung it up on my bedroom wall today. I should say, that the original work was more refined and more "finished", altogether. But I hope you like it, as I do.
