Society for Conservation Biology - To Africa, With Love: Meet Dao Van Hoang

After working in advertising for many years, Dao Van Hoang became a full time wildlife artist and his passion is to focus on the species of Southeast Asia which are not as well-known as the African and North American wildlife.

How did you evolve into a wildlife artist?
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In 2006, I quit advertising and stayed home with mother. I did up an exhibition center for a wildlife rescue center in Cu Chi run by NGO Wildlife at Risk (WAR). I then went to the Primate Centre in Cuc Phuong at the invitation of Tilo Nadler and drew endangered primates to my heart’s content. In 2014, the International Primatological Society (IPS) held their conference in Hanoi and they kindly agreed to my proposal to paint and display 22 canvases with acrylic paintings showing primates of Vietnam. I sold 16 paintings and donated some to IPS during a week of the conference and my work was well received.

Golden Back. Eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) - 120x80cm

In 2015, the American Primatological Society (APS), allowed me showcase 25 most endangered primates of the world at their conference in Bend, Oregon. I sold half of them and I barely broke even as I paid for my travels, shipment and local expenses as well. In 2016, I displayed 19 paintings at the IPS-APS joint conference and sold a lot less and surprisingly a client from Singapore purchased many of them online and I shipped them back from the U.S.

What do you see doing five years from now?
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I aspire to be a wildlife artist dedicated to the fauna of Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on the unknown, unsung and unwept for species like the Owston’s civet and Tonkin snub-nosed monkey in Vietnam. I did a series on ‘small cats of Asia’ and others are in the pipeline. The Tonkin monkey is my personal favorite – mysterious and hard to sight in the wild. It is on my bucket list of wildlife viewing.

What is your wish for African wildlife?

I don’t think they need another advocate as they are so well known. But, who would have thought giraffe would be endangered like the rhino, elephant and lion in Africa? So, folks keep doing your bit to promote conservation and love for wildlife in Africa. That’s all you can do and all you need to do.

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