Happiness
Happiness
Title

Happiness

Year

2005

Media

Lacquer on Wood

Theme

Semi-Abstract

Vietnamese artist Thanh Chuong (b. 1949) paints personal stories within which many emotions are embedded. Influenced by Picasso and French modernism,  his paintings employ cubist elements in their composition.The colours he uses are what he considers to be derived from his childhood village life. A sense of lost innocence pervades his works, also a deep personal sadness. 

In his painting Happiness a couple bonds in an intimate embrace, in a posture much like Klimt's The Kiss. Their tightly clasped hands  suggest the close yet tenuous quality of the relationship. Unlike The Kiss, the emotional content is tinged with a sense of loss.

Another painting by Thanh Chuong in the Singtel collection is Summer Day (2006).