A half-French artist whose mother is Vietnamese is displaying his paintings, which depict a gorgeous Vietnam in his own way, in Ho Chi Minh City.

The “Su Phan Chieu” (Reflection) exhibition, running until Saturday at Phuong Mai Gallery, at 9 Phan Chu Trinh Street in District 1, showcases 20 oil paintings created by artist Robert Mihagui. Mihagui, 57, was born in 1945 to a French father and Vietnamese mother in the northern Vietnamese province of Vinh Phu.

He moved to France with his father in 1958 and pursued art from a tender age.

The artist returned to Vietnam in 1998 in search of his mother, who had passed away.

Married to a Vietnamese woman, Mihagui can speak Vietnamese but cannot read or write in the language.

The artist’s topic matter is mostly Vietnamese landscapes, and he depicts his motherland’s scenery in his own way.

His 20 exhibited artworks all adopt semi-abstractionism, which means depicting only colors, not shapes, while allowing viewers to guess what the paintings are about. 

Mihagui said that he takes great pride in the style, which he believes is currently one of the art forms in France.

“Many Vietnamese viewers advised me against the use of such intense colors, which might be too strong for Asian tastes. However, as an artist, I wish to take the less-trodden path, instead of featuring only girls or young buffalo herders. I’m faithful to my old style, which has been accepted by a number of art enthusiasts,” Mihagui explained.      

This exhibition is the artist’s third personal display in Ho Chi Minh City. His paintings sold out at two previous exhibits in 2010 and 2011.

His clientele is mostly made up of art buyers from France, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Despite his fervent art passion, success did not come easy.

In the past Mihagui performed such jobs as restoring old paintings and designing discs.

His passion and artistic career took off in 1990 when his first painting at an auction fetched US$1,300. Painting has become his full-time devotion ever since.

The artist divulged his real surname is Bouchin, but he adopted an exotic-sounding stage name to grab the attention of French art buyers.

Mihagui added he generally creates about 50 paintings each year. His works fetch between $1,000 and $3,000 each.

He stressed he can make an average living out of his art pursuit, as only around three out of 100 artists can earn a decent income in France.

“Several of my favorite works are not enthusiastically received by art lovers, while they sometimes insist on buying those which I’m so ashamed of I just want to discard. In my experience, it does take time for an artistic career to bud and bloom,” Mihagui confided.

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