Nguyễn Ðức Thọ (20 September 1945) is a Vietnamese artist who was North Vietnamese war artist whose career spanned the

Second Indochina War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

(also known as the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

). He was born in

Hà Nam Province Hà is a Vietnamese given name, male or female, meaning "river". Hà is a Vietnamese 'surname' (during French colonialism). The name is transliterated as He in Chinese and Ha in Korean. Ha is the anglicized variation of the surname Hà. It is ...

into a family with strong ties to the revolution against

French colonialism The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates, and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French colonial empire", that ex ...

. His mother and father donated fabric and bicycles to the

Việt Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Vi ...

. After studying the intermediate art course at the Vietnam Fine Arts College, he joined the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

(PAVN) in May 1965 during the heightened American bombing campaign of

Operation Linebacker Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to halt or slow th ...

. First serving as a regular soldier in a missile unit, he was later sent to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for training and education on missile systems as a soldier and engineer. He became a war artist after his unit recognized his talent for art, and due to the army's natural demand for art. He was in charge of making banners, decorating meeting halls and drawing propaganda posters for his unit. However, he also made images for purely documentary purposes. His paintings were shown in many divisional exhibitions and published in '' Quân Đội Nhân Dân'' (‘People’s Army’ newspaper). Many of his images involved scenes of ant-aircraft defenses. He was able to draw in many famous locations, including the

Ho Chi Minh Trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

, Highway 9, Khe Sanh, the

Second Battle of Quảng Trị The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and eventually in

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

in 1975 during and after liberation. He graduated the Vietnam Fine Arts College in 1976. In the same year, his painting ''Evening on the Red River'' was given to the Cuban government. He remained in the PAVN until 1990, working with them to reorganize museums and art exhibitions. He also painted from his recollections of the Vietnam War and his work was included in many exhibitions throughout Vietnam.

Notable works

* Evening on the Red River (1974) * Pitted (1985) * Wish Uncle Ho (1995) * The Focus On the Trail (2000) * Ba Đình One Morning in May

Collections

* Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum * Ho Chi Minh City Museum or Fine Arts
Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association

The British Museum

Witness Collection (Cuban Government)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Duc Tho 1945 births Living people People from Hà Nam province Vietnamese artists North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War 20th-century Vietnamese artists Vietnam War artists People's Army of Vietnam