Dinh Quan
Born in 1964 in Hai Phong, Dinh Quan graduated from the College des Beaux – Arts in Hanoi in 1990, specialising already then in lacquer painting. He has become one of the leading and very few truly good lacquer painters working in Vietnam today. Dinh Quan is as committed to ensuring top quality lacquer work as he is demanding of his students who practise in his beautiful large studio near the lake in Hanoi.

The lacquer process is extremely labor intensive, starting with top quality wooden panels, multiple lacquer coatings, washing and polishing cycles.  With solid wood panels, the paintings are extremely heavy, with large works easily weighing 50 kg / 110 lbs or more.

Contrary to some other lacquer artists, Dinh Quan has mastered the lacquer technique to the point where, instead of it being a rigid process, he can let his creativity run freely, leveraging the lacquer process and color intensity to produce truly astonishing work of art. Arch Angel Art has a number of his older works in our collection, which in some ways we think are the best lacquer works produced in Vietnam. Till the establishment of the College des Beaux – Arts d’IndoChine in 1925 by the French, the natural lacquer technique was known and applied broadly, but always in religious and ceremonial context. Dinh Quan’s graduating from that same art college in 1990 and his subsequent works have infused a whole new level of achievement in creative expression in lacquer work. His high quality and expressive works will surely delight and inspire future generations of artists and art lovers alike and the value of his works will undoubtedly continue to grow with that recognition.

Dinh Quan is a member of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association and lives and works in Hanoi. He has had many exhibitions in Vietnam and abroad [Tokyo, Singapore, Nice, Dijon, Oslo, Washington, DC, to name a few] and his works are in many private collection mainly in Europe and the USA.