Kitchen Wall Art of Vietnamese Food and Street Stalls

Bowls of pho, red chilli broth, spring rolls and glasses of drip coffee fill these kitchen paintings, set on wooden tables and at street stalls in Hanoi, Hue and Saigon. They come as hand-painted oil paintings or archival canvas prints.

Bowls, herbs and steam on the table

Most of these paintings put food in the foreground. One lays out spring rolls translucent enough to show shrimp and coriander, with peanut sauce bowls, lime and chilli on a tan wooden table. Others bring in a phin coffee filter, a bowl of pho with basil and lime, and garden tea. Several of these meals also hang in Vietnamese Food.

Hanoi, Hue and Saigon at the kitchen table

A few of the dishes belong to a city. The Hanoi canvas puts grilled patties in amber broth next to a charcoal grill that glows and smokes. The Hue canvas is built around bun bo: a red broth bowl, a pot letting off steam, a herb plate and little garnish dishes, all inside a timber room with a window at one side. The Saigon canvas sets rice beside a glazed pork chop, with motorbikes blurred in the sunny street beyond the worn wooden table.

Street stalls behind the food

Some paintings step away from the bowl to the stall that serves it. One shows a vendor in a conical hat at a red-roofed banh mi cart filling a baguette, in thick oil strokes of orange, red and teal. In the noodle stall painting, a figure lifts noodles from a steaming pot, and a glass-fronted cart, wooden stools and one orange lantern glow against slate grey-blue. These everyday moments sit alongside the pieces in Daily Life.

Choosing colours for a kitchen wall

The tan and worn wood of the spring roll painting sit quietly on a pale or cream wall. The slate grey-blue of the noodle stall pairs with a grey or white wall, and its single orange lantern gives the accent. The banh mi cart, in orange, red and teal, is the stronger choice for a wall that needs colour.