On display are around 30 lacquer paintings by Ha Anh Tuan, Chu Viet Cuong and Cong Quoc Thang depicting natural landscapes and people.

It is the first exhibition for the three artists who are passionate about traditional Vietnamese lacquer craft.

Ha Anh Tuan, the oldest of the three, studied lacquer by himself and most of his paintings focus on rural vistas.

"The countryside is not a new theme in the fine art, but I want to explore the theme in my own way," Tuan said. "Unlike oil painting, lacquer needs to be made manually, which requires lots of time, effort and skill."

His lacquer paintings include images of bamboo leaves, clusters of bananas, small lanes and village gates which have become symbols of the Vietnamese countryside.

Both Chu Viet Cuong and Cong Quoc Thang graduated from the Hanoi Fine Arts College and Thang's Cau Chuyen Cua Toi (My Story) painting is one of the most iconic images in the exhibition.

Born in 1986, Thang is the youngest artist and has pursued lacquer work for many years, including using lacquer materials for his graduate work which received the highest score of the year.

His work has been displayed at the Vietnam contemporary fine arts festival in Sweden, which was held by the Hanoi Asian House in 2005.

The painting My Story is 60cm tall and 120cm wide and features unicorn dancing which is a very popular style of dancing. "I want to recall my childhood memory – my house is in one of Hanoi's old quarter streets, where I could see unicorn dancing at the full-moon and mid-autumn festivals," Thang said.

"Many Vietnamese artists feature unicorn dancing in their work but I hope it will be a theme throughout my career."

Artist Cuong uses a refined technique of lacquer art depicting delicate light in his paintings, many of which capture relaxing rural scenes of heaped yellow straw and green bamboo trees.

Cuong's paintings have been exhibited at events in the capital and throughout the country.

The lacquer painting exhibition was important because very few artists still followed the traditional Vietnamese technique of lacquer painting, said artist Bang Lam.

The exhibition will run until December 30 at 49 Nguyen Du Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.

VNS