"Girl With Black Hat" (2012) is a stunning, large-scale oil painting by celebrated South-East Asian Contemporary artist, Nguyen van Cuong (Vietnamese, b. 1976) that beautifully underscores the singular manner in which the artist depicts the young Vietnamese women of his generation. This luminous portrait combines a celebration of unabashed femininity with a Modern sentiment. The artist also embraces the "old-world" sensibility of traditional Vietnamese painting and calligraphy, underscored by the delicate floral, butterfly and abstract motifs that are painted upon this young woman's face. The lush, muted palette and painterly quality seen here are inherent to Nguyen van Cuong's best works. "Girl With Black Hat" measures 49 x 40 inches (120 x 100 cm), is unframed and is in excellent condition.

Nguyen van Cuong is recognized as one of the most notable of the new generation of Vietnamese/South-East Asian artists, powerfully integrating Western painting styles and techniques into his work. The artist's oeuvre embraces international influences and modernization of 'new' Vietnam and the younger generation to which he belongs. The artist was born in Bac Giang Province, Vietnam in 1976 and graduated with degrees from Fine Art Teacher's College in Bac Giang Province, Vietnam and soon after from the famous Hanoi Fine Art as the Highest Graduate. In 2005 he was awarded Second Prize in the National Fine Arts Exhibition in Vietnam, as well as First Prize for Self-Portraiture in 2011. His paintings have been exhibited in solo and group shows in the U.K, Europe and the U.S. and throughout Asia, in South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and China. Cuong is currently lives and works in Vietnam, where he is a lecturing professor at the National College of Music and Painting.