Le Thiet Cuong

One of the leading contemporary artists in Vietnam, the artistic path of Le Thiet Cuong has passed through a few stages. During the 1980s, his paintings were loaded with heavy texture and colours in the manner of the Post-Impressionists and Abstract Expressionists. From 1985-1989, Cuong filled his canvases with intense colours and dark tones. The turning point came in 1990, when Cuong abandoned his early practices in favour of a minimalist style showing figures and landscapes with only a few contours. The reason for the change in part traces to the influence of Tay Tang Buddhism, an esoteric sect of Buddhism that focuses on harmony and the balance of elements, on the artist.