Lebadang artist biography

“An artist’s true wealth comes from the diversity of his creation” (Lebadang).

1921
Lê Bá Đảng (Lê, his surname, Bá, his middle name and Đảng, his given name) was born on 27 June 1921 at Bích La Đông, (in Quang Tri near Huê, the former imperial capital of Vietnam), into a family of fairly rich peasants. From 1950, Lebadang connected the syllables of his name when signing. This became his signature for all his works.

1921 – 1939
It was at Bich La Dông, his own village near Quang Tri in central Vietnam, that he completed his primary studies. However, as soon as he grew into adolescence he felt an urgent need to escape and travel to France. Still under age, he signed up with “Indigenous Manpower” (Main d’œuvre indigène, M.O.I) a branch of the French Ministry of Labour. His father was unable to cancel his recruitment application and, with nowhere to turn, was forced to see his son leave.

1940 – 1941
Recruited at Quang Tri on 16 October 1939, he boarded the boat at Tourane (present-day Dà Nang) on 3 February 1940 and disembarked 47 days later at Marseille on 20 March 1940 after an uncomfortable and testing journey. As soon as he arrived he and his comrades were put in the new prison of Baumettes. He was to be part of the force of “Indochinese workers” most of whom were forcibly recruited by the French state at the beginning of the Second World War, mainly to work in arms and munitions factories, replacing the French workers mobilized into the army.

This period has been described in a book which came out in 2009 by Pierre Daum (published in 2009 by Éditions Actes Sud) “Immigrés de force : les travailleurs indochinois en France, 1939-1952” (Forced immigrants: the Indochinese workers in France, 1939-1952). The book also inspired a documentary film directed by Lam Lê (released on 30 January 2013) “Công Binh, la longue nuit indochinoise” (Công Bin

I have always wanted to escape from the weather-beaten paddy fields ever since I was a child, which makes a long way until today (1940 – 2005). During that time, I had next to nothing and suffered from lack of knowledge, so I left my family in my hometown (Village of Bich La Dong, Commune of Trieu Phong, Province of Quang Tri) for the Western countries, landing among the French colonial government staff to find a way that helps end the simultaneous invasion in my fatherland. I didn’t know what to do and where to go to, either, but I knew that leaving was a must and the heart of the matter was how I could do to change the circumstances and stay away from the grip of backward poverty.

The ship arrived in Masela after more than one month (on February 1940). What a strange country! Women were not wearing pants (but there were skirts), the trees were without leaves, the people were eating without using chopsticks, it was raining without water (but ice instead), the locals were walking dogs, kissing them, and not eating dog meat. Surprise after surprise had come; one had better learn day in day out, from dusk to dawn, when being full or hungry, because new things would take place all the time; one could learn how to eat properly with utensils and how to do something right culturally from teachers, friends, or even strangers.

After two years of such a prison-like life as a soldier, I was determined to try leading a decent life as it was said that, ‘Diligence is the mother of good fortune.’ Despite the lack of material and spiritual support at work and at school, I started learning French and drawing. Why drawing? It was because the Toulouse School of Fine Arts was the only one institution that accepted me, and trained me to be a painting artist (1942 – 1948). Life had trained me to be patient, resourceful, industrious, and stubborn enough to refuse the slavery to a school unlike anywhere else, neither Eastern nor Western, contemporary or classi

Le Ba Dang, who went by 'Lebadang' as well as by the alias, 'Hoi', was born on June 27, 1921 in Bich-La-Dong, Hue province, Vietnam. While still a teenager, he secretly altered personal documents to join the Main d'oeuvre Indigine (M.O.I), or "Indigenous Manpower" branch of the French Ministry of Labor in 1939. Unbeknownst to Lebadang, it was an exploitive operation that would place him in a prison at Baumettes for Indochinese citizens forcibly recruited from their homelands to build munitions for the Second World War, after French citizens were drafted into the army. From June 1940 until August 1941, Lebadang escaped from a prison factory, was caught, re-imprisoned in the Hautes-Pyrenees, and once more escaped to Toulouse, a free zone. 

Lebadang rarely spoke of this time, one he found too painful to address even through art. However, its end came with a life-changing twist, as he was able to take his first formal lessons in painting and sculpture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, under the tutelage of Espinasse and Manin. He found success with his professors and was invited to create the brochures for a variety of events at the school. Following the war, he continued to take lessons at the school and in 1948 he received his diploma. At this time he also entered a design competition, for which he won first prize. With the competition money, he moved to Paris. 

In 1950 Lebadang held his first solo exhibition in Paris, which gained critical acclaim and was quickly followed by shows throughout France. With sales he was able to open a studio in the rue de la Montagne-Saint-Genevieve, where he focused on oil painting and drawing in India ink. He exhibited regularly at the Galerie de l'Odeon in Paris and, in the late 1950s, at the Galerie Cezanne in Cannes. His works at this time showed the influence of both of the worlds he was a part of, incorporating watercolor and brushed ink reminiscent of the artwork of Vietnam with

About the artist:

Lebadang was born in Vietnam and emigrated to France in 1939 to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse. He had his first one-man show in Paris in 1950 and over the next thirty years gained prominence throughout France and Germany. He came to the attention of Americans in 1966 when the Cincinnati Art Museum hosted the first one-man exhibition of his paintings in the United States. Lebadang fuses the cultural influence of Europe and the Orient in his poetic visions articulated in watercolor, sculpture and lithography. He is critically acclaimed for the grace and simplicity of his imagery, executed in infinite variations of line, shape and color. Over the next three decades there were many important exhibits of his works throughout France and Germany. Lebadang came to the attention of Americans in 1966 when the Cincinnati Art Museum hosted the first one-man exhibition of his paintings in the United States. Lebadang's paintings and graphics are in many important public and private collections, including the University Art Gallery, Lund, Sweden; Rockfeller Collection, New York; Loo Collection, Tokyo; Phoenis Art Museum; Ruud Lighting, Inc.; Lloyd Baretz Enterprises; Behavioral Medicine Northwest, Seattle; etc... Shop our selection of Lebadang's art prints for sale.