Hello, my names Trnh Cung and I was born in 1939 making me 72 years old.

Im from Nha Trang but Ive been living in Sign for a long time now. Ive got 4 children- the first three were with my first wife. She passed away 11 years ago. Im remarried now and have a 4 year-old with my new wife- shes a poet. 2 of my kids, my oldest son and one of my daughters, are in California working as musicians for Thy Nga Paris by Night [a live music variety show popular in the Vietnamese American community]. My other daughter lives here in Sign with her husband and two kids. Ive been an artist for at least 40 years now and work with oil paints. After graduating high school I begged my parents to let me go to Hu. Hus a wonderland its a poetic land with the Hng River, beautiful landscapesit was the old capital of Vit Nam, ya know? Theres been so many inspirational artists and poets from Hu including Hn Mc T and Xun Diu. I loved poetry and Hu is a land of

Xin cho cc bn, ti tn l Trnh Cung, v ti l mt ha s. Ti sinh ra Nha Trang nm 1932 v ln ln , nhng ti chuyn vo Si Gn v sng y t rt lu ri. Ti hai ln kt hn, ngi v u c vi ti ba con trc khi ra i 11 nm trc; sau ti tc huyn v c thm mt thin thn bn tui vi ngi v hin nay ca ti, mt nh th. Con trai ln v mt con gi ca ti hin sng California v l nhc s cho chng trnh Paris by Night ca trung tm Thy Nga [mt chng trnh ca nhc tp k rt ni ting trong cng ng ngi Vit M]; ngi con gi cn li ca ti hin sng Si Gn cng chng v hai con nh. V phn ti, ti l mt ha s trn bn chc nm nay v hin ti ti ch chuyn ch vi mng tranh sn du. khi qut mt cht v cuc i ti, c l nn bt u t vic ti gn nh phi qu xung cu xin ba m cho php ti ra Hu ngay sau khi tt nghip ph thng. Hu l mt mnh t tht tuyt diurt nn th, tr tnh vi dng Hng v nhiu danh thng

poetry and for me a land of dreams. I wanted to khcmnh t c bn hiu ti phi go to Hu to try and get into the Fine Arts College of Hu. In high school, I hated math and sciences but loved poetry, literature, and art. I was horrible at math and sciences. I feel that art is like poetry it gives me freedom of feeling, love, and the movement of everything. I followed my hearts calling. Anyway, there was an evaluation test to get into the school. There were a hundred applicants and outta that hundred they were only picking 15. They put a statue in front of us and we had to draw it. I looked around at everyones drawings they were really good... I asked some people how they were able to draw so well and they told khng? l mnh t mang li rt nhiu cm hng cho cc nh th, cc ngh s nh Hn Mc T v Xun Diu. Ti yu th, v khng u khc chnh Hu l mnh t th ti lun m ti, v ti quyt nh rng mnh mun ti Hu theo hc trng M thut Hu. ph thng, ti rt cm th ton v cc mn t nhin khc, trong khi dnh trn tnh yu cho th vn, hi ha, nhng th cho ti s t do trong tm hn, trong cm xc v cm nhn s lay ng ca vn vt. Ti quyt nh i theo ting gi ca tri tim, nhng vo c trng Ngh thut Hu, ti vn cn tri qua mt k thi, ni m ti phi cnh tranh vi hng

me they had been practicing and getting private trm th sinh c mt trong tp 15 ngi lessons. Compared to everyone elses mine looked like shit. I thought theres no way in hell Im gonna get into this school. I packed up my stuff and was ready to go home. Someone told me that I had got in and I c chn. thi ca chng ti ch n gin l v, mt bc tng c t trc mt v chng ti c yu cu v theo. Ti nhn xung quanh, quan st tc phm ca mi ngi v h v tht tuyt Ti hi mt vi ngi, v h

didnt believe em! They told me to go look for ni h luyn tp rt nhiu cc bi tp v myself. I went to the sheet of paper posted up cng cc thy gio, v l l do bc tranh ti

and there was my name! I couldnt believe it. I was so excited. I really grew and progressed as an artist during my four years in college. I was the top of my class. After graduating, I found immediate success- instant fame. Out of the 15 students who got in only one or two of us became professional and famous artists. Know why? Because we had creativity. The first step in learning to paint is to copy and the second step is creating what you feel. An art teacher can easily teach his student to paint a portrait of a person. Its easy to just copy what you see but what a teacher cant teach you is how to paint well with soul and feeling onto the canvas. A good artist should be able to breathe life into the painting- it should be able to portray happiness, sadness, and have its own memories. In school I was inspired by many modern artists such as Picasso, Chagall, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Matisse, Kandinsky, Klee, Rocko, Pollack, and Modigliani. Though I was in art school, they didnt teach us any modern

v trng tht t hi khi ng cnh nhng sn phm ca h. Khi ti ngh Chc khng c mt c hi no cho mnh, ti ng gi hnh l v chun b sn sng tr v. Ri sau mt ngi bn bo vi ti rng ti v khi ti nht quyt khng tin cho n khi tn mt thy tn mnh trong danh sch! Tht khng th tng tng c! Bn nm y khin ti tr thnh mt ha s thc th. Khi lc no ti cng nm trong tp nhng sinh vin xut sc; ri nhanh chng tr nn thnh cng v ni ting ngay sau khi tt nghip. Trong s 15 sinh vin trng tuyn nm y, ch mt hai ngi cui cng tr thnh ha s chuyn nghip v ni ting. L do ? Vn nm s sng to. Bc u tin trong vic hc hi ha ch l s bt chc, nhng ri sau l s sng to t cm xc. Mt ging vin hi ha c th d dng dy hc tr ca mnh v chn dung ngi khc bi ch n gin l chp li nhng g mnh thynhng ci m gio vin khng th truyn th l lm sao v bng tm hn v cm xc ca mnh.

art. In fact, they hated modern art. We were only classically trained [classically trained artists are usually trained in the style of the old masters which include artists such as Leonardo daVinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Francisco Goya, and Jacques-Louis David]. I had to learn about modern artists and techniques on my own outside of school. We were forbidden to paint anything but classical realism. There were some students who tried to paint in a modern style but they got kicked out! I didnt want to get kicked out so I painted classically at school but modernly at home. Alotta Vietnamese people saw anything modern as new and as a sign of change. We felt that Vietnam was a slow developing and resistant to change. We wanted change though. Modern art was new and exciting for us artists. Although I love modern art I do appreciate the old masters too. I got a chance to travel to Spain and France back in I think 1994. Seeing the paintings in real life is so much different than seeing them in a book.

Mt ngi ha s gii s phi bit lm sao thi cho tc phm ca mnh nhng hi th ca cuc sng; mi bc tranh phi l mt tm gng ca nhng nim vui, ni bun v s hu k c ca ring n. Khi cn i hc, ti b nh hng rt nhiu bi cc danh ha hin i, c th k ra Picasso, Chagall, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Matisse, Kandinsky, Klee, Rocko, Pollack, v Modigliani. D l trng M thut nhng chng ti khng c tip xc nhiu vi hi ha hin i. Trn thc t, h ght hi ha hin i. Tt c nhng g chng ti c dy ch l trng phi c in [trng phi hi ha c in l trng phi c xy dng trn phong cch ca cc bc thy hi ha nh Leonardo daVinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Francisco Goya, v Jacques-Louis David]. Ti phi t hc thm v cc tc gi v cc k thut hin i bn ngoi. Chng ti b cm v bt c th g khng lin quan n hin thc c in, cng c mt vi ngi c theo ui hi ha hin i, nhng tt c h u b ui hc. Bi khng

mun ri vo cnh , trng ti ch v theo trng phi c in v dnh li nhng g tn tin hn nh. Nhiu ngi Vit Nam quan nim tt c nhng th hin i u l nhng biu hin cho s thay i v tin b, nhng chng ti khi cm nhn c rng Vit Nam thc s l mt t nc chm pht trin v ngi thay i. V chng ti mun thay i. Hi ha hin i chnh l s thay i mi m v th v m gii ha s chng ti mun thy, d rng ti cng rt yu hin thc c in v knh trng cc bc tin bi theo phong cch . Ti c c hi sang Ty Ban Nha v Php vo khong nm 1994; tn mt chim ngng nhng tuyt tc trong gii hi ha, v qu thc tri nghim khc rt xa so vi ch ngm nhn chng qua sch v. I always knew I wanted to be an artist and that it was my true passion. Being an artist isnt easy though. The life of an artist is often short and difficult like Van Gogh. He had a hard and lonely life. He couldnt sell any paintings during his lifetime and had no Trc y ti lun bit rng mnh thc s mun tr thnh mt ha s, v chnh xc l mt nim am m chy bng. Nhng l mt ha s qu thc khng hon ton d chu. Cuc i ca mt ha s thng ngn v y chng gainh Van Gogh, vt v v c n. Lc

money. People didnt respect or appreciate his work until after his death. But! He was remembered forever. His paintings immortalized him and he was able to live on through them and many other generations know of him.

sinh thi, chng ai thm oi hoi n tranh ca ng, v ng khng kim c mt xu no t tranh ca mnh. Ngi ta cha bao gi nhn ra ti nng ca ng cho ti khi tn sau khi ci cht mang ng i. Nhng, ng s c ghi nh vnh vin. Nhng tc phm i ca ng khin ng tr nn bt t, ng sng vnh vin trong tm tng ca nhn loi ca hng trm ngn th h tip theo.

Ive done well for myself as an artist. My paintings sell- theyre not too expensive but theyre not really cheap either. The price really depends on its size. A medium-sized canvas can range from $3,000-5,000 USD while a large canvas can cost around $10,000 USD. Its not all about the size though. The price also depends on how much I like my painting too. Its harder for me to let go of a painting if I really like it. In a year I probably paint about 10 paintings- multiply that for over 40 years makes 400 or so paintings over my lifetime. I love all of my work. I trash all of the ones I hate. My first painting that got famous

Trong vai tr l mt ha s, ti ngh mnh lm tt. Tranh ca ti, d khng qu t nhng khng bao gi r tin. Mt bc tranh c va ca ti thng c gi khong 3000-5000 la M, trong khi mt bc c ln c gi khong 10000 , nhng kch c khng phi l tt c. Gi tr ca mt bc tranh ng thi cn ph thuc vo cm nhn ca ti v n, ti thng rt kh bn i mt bc tranh m mnh thc s yu thch. Mi nm ti v khong 10 bc, v khi nhn con s vi khong 40 nm trong ngh, cuc i ti c trn 400 tc phm. Ti yu tranh ca mnh, v lun lun vt b nhng g ti khng thch. Bc tranh u tin ca ti

was called Ma Thu Tui Nh [Childrens Autumn]. It was 1962 in Sign and an exhibition was held. 21 artists were invited to exhibit their best painting. The artists came from all over the world: Germany, France, England, Spain, France I was so proud to be invited just barely after graduating from college. I dont have that painting anymore. It was sold to a woman living in Washington, D.C. My art has changed over time but more dramatically over the last 20 or so years. Up until 1996 I painted only figurative art. You could always tell what my painting was abouta woman, a place, an object, whatever. In 1996 I was invited to San Francisco State University in the U.S. to be a guest lecturer. There in San Francisco, I went to many museums in the area as well as other museums in the U.S. such as the Museum Of Modern Art in New York and Museum Of Contemporary Art in LA. This really inspired me and I began to experiment more with my art. I began painting much more

c bit n rng ri c tn l Ma Thu Tui Nh. l vo nm 1962, ti Si Gn, ti v 20 ha s khc n t khp ni trn th gii: c, Php, Anh, Ty Ban Nha,c mi tham d mt cuc trin lm v chng ti trng by nhng tc phm xut sc nht ca mnh. Tht vinh d cho ti, khi ti va tt nghip. Bc tranh hin c bn cho mt ph n sng ti th Washington D.C ca Hoa K.

Phong cch ngh thut ca ti lun thay i, nhng 20 nm qua chng kin mt s lt xc. Cho ti nm 1996, ti thng ch v nhng bc hin thc, v khng cn bit nhiu v hi ha hay c cm xc ca mt ngh s, bn vn c th ch ra ch ca bc tranh l mt ph n, mt a im hay mt th g. Nhng ri nm 1996, ti c mi thnh ging ti trng i hc bang San Francisco, Hoa K, v ti c c hi n thm nhiu bo tng trong bang, cng nh khp nc M nh bo tng ngh thut hin i New York v Bo tng Ngh thut ng i Los Angeles. iu thc

abstractly. The worst thing for an artist is khng tm ra c cho mnh cch ring [not being able to find your own way or style]. A problem that artists face is the applause. Anh ng tng ngi ta khen lc ngi v tay [Dont think that people are praising you just because theyre clapping for you]. Once you fall into this, you begin to fear any sort of criticism of backlash There are many cases of artists falling into this trap. They sell a painting and then they feel like they have to continue painting the same thing. They fear any change for fear that people wont like their paintings if they switch it up. They become a forgery of themselves. That there is the death of an artist.

s c v ti th nghim nhiu hn trong tranh ca mnh, v ti bt u v tru tng hn. iu ti t nht ca mt ngh s, l khng tm ra c cho mnh cch ring. S tung h ca cng chng l mt vn , v anh ng tng ngi ta khen lc ngi ta v tay. Khi anh ri vo tnh cnh , anh bt u s mi s ch bai, kchhay nhng bc li trong s nghip. C rt nhiu v d v nhng ha s ri vo ci by , h bn mt bc tranh p v ri h ngh rng tt hn ht mnh nn tip tc v nh th. H s mi s thay i bi h s ngi ta s khng cn yu thch tranh ca h na. H tr thnh ci bng m, tr thnh k sao chp chnh bn thn h. l khi mt ngh s thc s cht, d anh ta c cn th hay khng.