VIEN THUC Rhodes’ book Timoleon Vieta Come Home contains some wonderful paintings of dogs by the artist and Buddhist monk Vien Thuc. He lives in the small city of Da Lat in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, and has a huge, sprawling gallery round the back of his pagoda. He lives surrounded by mongrels, all of whom look just like the dogs in the book. He also has a Rottweiller called Rock, who lives in his own enclosure. Rock is probably the world’s only vegan Rottweiller. He looks very healthy and well looked after, but there’s a glint in his eye that suggests he is desperate for a mouthful of flesh. Vien Thuc’s gallery contains countless pieces of art, many of them badly damaged by rain (see below). He isn’t bothered by this – he believes that the damage enhances the pictures. If you happen to be passing through the Central Highlands it is well worth visiting him and buying a painting. He lives and works at Lam Ty Ni Pagoda, 2, Duong Thien My, Da Lat. His work starts at approximately US$5 on paper and rises to about US$40 on canvas. A bargain. Here are some pictures, taken by Rhodes himself, of Vien Thuc’s gallery and of him at work on some of the paintings that ended up in the book. The doggy thoughts are his own – he writes in Vietnamese, English, French and Chinese. Many thanks are due to Spencer Bunce for kindly sending the picture of Vien Thuc holding a copy of the book.