Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum is one of the most popular tourist destinations. It is a favourite place for those who like to discover arts, architecture, and old artifacts.
Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
- Address: 97 Pho Duc Chinh Street, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- Opening hours: 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, every day.
- Entrance free: 30,000 VND/ adult; 15,000VND / student with school ID; and 10,000VND/child.
Overview of HCMC Museum of Fine Arts
The museum has a total area of 3,500m2, which is the display of more than 21,000 artifacts in different categories, such as traditional handicraft, contemporary art, ancient art, and ancient artifacts.
The paintings and relics reflect the different periods of history and development of Vietnam arts, attracting a lot of domestic and international tourists visiting every day.
In addition, the exhibition rooms have many works of foreign artists, which is proof of the cultural and artistic exchange between countries.
In general, functions and duties of the Fine Arts of Ho Chi Minh City include:
- Firstly, this is the place to enjoy the artistic beauty of the public in Saigon.
- Also, it is a tourist destination in HCMC to visit, research, and learn for art lovers. This site can introduce Vietnamese fine arts to international visitors.
- It is the venue for art events and conferences to exchange the culture and develop the society and economy for the city.
The development of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts was the residence of a famous Chinese businessman in Saigon. The building is a unique combination of Asian and European architecture designed by a French architect in 1929 and completed in 1930.
In 1987, this place was established as Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, but due to the lack of many artifacts, it began being officially operated in 1992. So far, this is one of the major art museums in Vietnam preserving many valuable artworks.
From 2011 to 2015, the building is expanded its displaying area and added more valuable collections.
The museum has collected lots of paintings of famous artists from Indochine school, such as Nguyen Gia Tri, Diep Minh Chau, Kim Bach, Dinh Ro, Quach Phong, and Nguyen Sang.
In February 2012, the Fine Arts Museum was recognized as a city-level art monument.
In May 2015, the restoration was completed, creating an overall beauty of an art museum in three buildings.
Typical features in the architecture of the Museum
The entire building of the Fine Arts Museum in Saigon was built in the style of famous French Baroque architecture in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. In particular, this is the first project in Saigon to use the elevator in the design. The elevator room was made of wood and carved as the style of an ancient Chinese palanquin.
Besides the Saigon Post Office, the building of the Fine Arts Museum is one of the top 2 French-style architectures in Ho Chi Minh City.
The upper parts of the roofs are covered with red yin and yang tiles, and the edge of roofs is decorated with green borders. The windows are glazed with patterns of European artistic style. The floors use the nice bricks with various patterns, and the beautiful marble is for the staircase.
HCMC Fine Arts Museum now consists of a basement and three floors, including rows of houses facing each other, creating a sky yard in the middle.
- The basement is for an office workplace and galleries.
- The first floor is to exhibiting modern artworks before and after 1975, organizing artistic activities.
- The second floor is used for displaying different topics of many authors and works when found.
- And the last floor is the display of works and collections of ancient art and traditional Vietnamese handicrafts such as stone art, ceramic art, fine art, wood art, and carving on copper.
The HCM Museum of Fine Art has been changed suitable for the development of the city, and the exhibition following specific topics at each period.
Notes when visiting the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum
- When the exhibition rooms are too crowded, you need to follow the route to avoid congestion.
- You can take pictures of the allowance areas in the museum, but should not use flash and the strong light to protect the paintings.
- Follow the directions of museum staff or guides.
- Do not bring food, liquids, or banned substances into the exhibition area.
- Going lightly, saying quietly, not laughing, causing noise that affects other visitors.
- Do not bring pets, litter indiscriminately, or smoke in the museum’s area,
- Do not do any behaviours affecting the beauty of the paintings, ancient artifacts, and the museum buildings.
When telling about Saigon, most of the locals mention the bustling life, modern sky bars, or parks. Not many people know about the Fine Arts Museum in this city, just groups who like classic style and arts are aware of it.
If you are a follower of vintage style, the HCMC Fine Arts Museum is an ideal site for you. You can find a lot of ancient famous paintings and take pictures with a typical style at the beautiful building of the museum.
Will you come to the Fine Arts Museum of Ho Chi Minh when you travel to this city?