QUẢNG TRỊ — More than 120 paintings and sculptures, along with archival materials and photographs documenting the life and career of renowned artist Lê Bá Đảng, are going on display at the Quảng Trị Museum after they were brought back from France by the artist's family.

Most of the works are being presented to the Vietnamese public for the first time, following years of preservation and efforts to bring the collection from Europe to the artist’s hometown of Quảng Trị.

The artist’s wife preserved many of his pieces at their home in France. After she died in 2023, the family took over the collection, gradually bringing the works back to Việt Nam for conservation, research and public display. 

“The exhibition showcases representative works by the renowned artist, offering the public an opportunity to explore his rich artistic legacy and gain deeper insight into his artistic journey,” said Lê Minh Tuấn, director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, at the opening.

“He used art to engage with history, humanity and the future. In Lê Bá Đảng’s art, war does not evoke hatred, loss does not lead to despair, but instead opens the way to faith in renewal, peace and human dignity."

Lê Bá Đảng (1921–2015), born in Bích La Đông Village, Quảng Trị Province, was an internationally acclaimed Vietnamese artist. He spent most of his life in France, with extended periods in the US and Japan.

After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts de Toulouse from 1942 to 1948, he began creating drawings, paintings, lithographs and prints featuring classical themes.

From 1955 onwards, his works received growing critical acclaim. In 1966, the Cincinnati Art Museum held his first solo exhibition in the US. In 1994, the French Government named him a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. He also received numerous distinctions in the US, the UK and Việt Nam.

Through a distinctive visual language bridging East and West, he created works deeply rooted in humanity, his homeland and a profound aspiration for freedom and peace. From Quảng Trị to Paris, his artistic journey brought Vietnamese cultural sensibilities to the international art scene.

The exhibition Lê Bá Đảng – Aspiration for Peace presents a selection of artworks and archival materials spanning different periods of the artist’s career across six themed spaces: Homeland and Roots, War Memories, Rebirth in the Aspiration for Peace, Meditation and the Creative World, Artistic Imprints and Digital Heritage and Experiential Space.

The display features a diverse range of media, including oil paintings, watercolours, graphic works and sculptures in wood, ceramics, bronze and glass, reflecting the humanistic spirit and enduring aspiration for peace that defined his artistic practice.

Among the artist’s most notable works is the large four-panel painting Night Landscape, which is 162cm by 485cm. The work was once displayed at his home in Cannes-La-Bocca, France. Three works from his Clouds and Water series, which he previously brought to Việt Nam and entrusted to his family for safekeeping, are also displayed together.

 

A highlight of the exhibition is a series of works made from metal fragments of B-52 aircraft wreckage. He transformed the fragments into doves of peace, vases and other forms, offering a different perspective on the traces of war.

The work Trường Sơn Rice is closely associated with life and the resilience of people who endured years of hardship along the Trường Sơn route.

Two works titled Rebirth depict tree trunks still bearing scars of breakage, while new branches emerge from the soil and mud, with flowers beginning to bloom. The wounds remain, but so does the beginning of new life.

Held in the artist’s hometown as part of the 2026 Peace Festival, the exhibition brings his artistic legacy closer to Vietnamese audiences while conveying a message of peace, life and hope.

The artist’s family donated 29 artworks to the Quảng Trị Museum for the occasion. The exhibition runs until August 31 at 8 Nguyễn Huệ Road, Đông Hà City. — VNS