Vietnamese silk painting is known to have been practised by at least the 15th century when the northern villages of Quan Phố and Nha Xá (modern Hà Nam Province) were weaving a special type of silk created especially for local artists to paint on. Since that time the Red River Delta has produced many well-known silk painters with an intimate knowledge of the material and its uniquely absorbent qualities. Since the 1920s the art of silk painting has been developed in Việt Nam as a medium of contemporary art (see Modern and contemporary art).