Born into a poor intellectual family, he graduated from the Indochinese College of Fine Arts in 1936. Opposed to colonialist conceptions held by the director of the college, he refused an official appointment to live on his art. . He worked in the Cultural Association for National Salvation before the 1945 August Revolution. He actively took part in the two resistance wars for national independence. He was the director of the Vietnam College of Fine Arts (1955-64), and the 1983 President of the Vietnam Association of Plastic Artists. Tran Van Can excels in genres: lacquer, oil, wood engraving, silk, etc.. His decorative art springs spontaneously from realism and emotion while his grace and freshness bathe in lyricism. He is considered one of the masters of modern Vietnamese lacquer. Open to foreign influence as he is, he remains firmly Vietnamese. .
						SHAMPOOING, woodcut, 32 x 21 cm, 1943
							STUDYING, oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches, 1964
			. IAP Home Page • About the IAP • Artists • Exhibitions • Sister School Program Back to the source • IAP Vietnam Trips • Hanoi Contemporary Arts Center Favorite Links • Calendar of Events .