Painter Luu Cong Nhan   Over 140 works by famous painter Luu Cong Nhan were stolen recently from his house in Da Lat, raising the specter of art thefts in Vietnam.

Nhan’s son, collector Luu Quoc Binh, wrote to Thanh Nien to say that the oil and water paintings, done in the 1950s and 60s, were now worth US$70,000-100,000 in all. They had been stolen when his 76-year-old father, an established name on the Vietnamese arts scene, had been away in Ho Chi Minh City for medical treatment. Binh has also warned others painters, collectors, gallery owners about the theft. Last month Phan Thiet collector Nguyen Truong Son reported a similar loss but involving fewer paintings. Reported by Dong Duong – Compiled by Luu Thi Hong Reprinted from THANHNIEN News