Sketch by Huynh Phuong Dong: Unfaded lines

Visitors to the Huynh Phuong Dong Journey exhibition at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts

Resistance movement

During the fierce years of fighting against the US, sketches from the liberated areas of the South were brought to the North for exhibitions, and Uncle Ho came to see them. Many copies of the paintings were also printed as gifts for international friends, contributing to the understanding of the Vietnamese people's war against the US to save the country.

Mrs. Le Thi Thu, wife of the late painter Huynh Phuong Dong, recalled: “At that time, the sketch series Southern Vietnam - Country, People was like a song to the battlefield, encouraging many young people to go to war against the US, and I was one of them. Personally, I was even more motivated because my husband was one of the authors of these sketches.”

Painter Huynh Phuong Dong, real name Huynh Cong Nhan, was born in 1925 and died in 2015. He was one of the first group of painters to return to support the South (late 1963 - early 1964). As soon as he arrived at the Central Propaganda Department of the Southern Region, he asked to go to the fiercest battlefields at that time such as Cu Chi, Nam Long An, Ap Bac... From those trips, painter Huynh Phuong Dong created many works that realistically depicted the nation's resistance war against invasion through the perspective of a soldier - artist. Sketches directly from the battlefield that year were born one after another such as: Battlefield Scene, On the battlefield, Mau Than 1968, Em Kim Lien, Liberation Painting Studio... The freedom, liveliness and naturalness in the brushwork of artist Huynh Phuong Dong, combined with materials such as: pencil, iron pen, black ink, watercolour, pastel... bring an overview of how artists work on the battlefield, making viewers feel the optimistic spirit of the soldiers - artists.

Drawing and organizing exhibitions in the trenches was a way to encourage comrades and teammates during the days when bombs and bullets were still trampling the homeland. According to documents recorded by the Liberation Painting Room, the predecessor of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association today, artist Huynh Phuong Dong recounted that during the break on the battlefield, soldiers and artists also collected what was available and organized exhibitions in the trenches, an idea to encourage the spirit of teammates on the front. The sketches were hung on ropes along the marching route, the leader would hang the paintings and the last person would collect the paintings and bring them back to the base.

In the hardships and fierceness of the battlefield, the sketch "heritage" was preserved by the soldier - artist in every way. In the book Alias ​​Huynh Phuong Dong (Fine Arts Publishing House, published in 2022), the late artist Huynh Phuong Dong shared: "Another important job that the Liberation Painting Room has done is to keep tens of thousands of sketches and sketches from being destroyed by bombs and bullets. When American veterans heard us say that we used machine gun ammunition boxes that they had scattered on the battlefield as boxes to hold paintings and bury them in safe, solid termite mounds while American bombs and bullets turned the green forest into a fire field, they were extremely impressed."

Battle journey, battlefield sketch

Painter Huynh Phuong Dong studied sculpture, but when he entered the battlefield, the war situation required him to constantly move and march with the soldiers here and there, not allowing him to sculpt statues on the front lines, so he switched to painting. However, he still had a fondness for sculpture.

Sketches by artist Huynh Phuong Dong during the anti-American resistance war

Painter Phan Huu Thien (former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum) said: “Once he took a very large termite mound (termite nest) and carved a group of statues on it, very beautiful. Unfortunately, later, that forest was destroyed by bombs and we did not have time to record that unique image. He was a person who adapted promptly to all circumstances and conditions for artistic activities and perhaps the sketching form was most suitable for him in those conditions.”

During his lifetime, artist Huynh Phuong Dong confided: “I painted portraits of hundreds of friends and comrades. Many of my friends at that time were very young boys and girls, but they were extremely brave on the battlefield. I have the responsibility to preserve their memories.”

The artists at the Liberation Painting Department volunteered to go and paint in reality on all the battlefields in the South, because everyone understood that: only by living and penetrating the reality of the war, of their own time, will their works be vivid and valuable... Artist Huynh Phuong Dong is one of the people who painted the most, rolling around on almost all the fierce battlefields. His sketches and notes include more than 2,000 works. He directly followed the main army units to participate in typical battles such as: Ap Bac battle, Binh Gia campaign, participated in fighting against the Junction City sweep, was directly present in the Chu Y bridge battle - Mau Than 1968, participated in the Dam Be battle (Cambodia), the Binh Long - Phuoc Long liberation campaign...

In his more than 2,000 sketches, the most prominent are portraits of characters with deep characteristics and inner thoughts, especially the eyes. Portraits of heroes, emulation fighters, and brave soldiers who defeated the Americans with resolute faces and confident, determined eyes. Portraits of female commandos and liaisons with elegant faces and bright, optimistic eyes. Portraits of "Mother fighting politically in enemy territory" with a kind face and steadfast, unyielding eyes before the enemy...

Painter Nguyen Hoang, former Principal of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts, shared: “I am proud to be an artist, a member of the Liberation Painting Department, headed by painter Huynh Phuong Dong, whose intimate belongings in life are a drawing bag full of white paper and a pencil. He is like a diligent secretary of the times, wishing to record the most beautiful and simple moments of the landscape, people, events, and feats of his country through painting.”

RED SUNFLOWER