Named among four legendary Vietnamese painters of the 20th century, Nguyễn Sáng made outstanding contributions to Vietnamese modern painting.
In addition to mastering both lacquer and oil paintings, the painter developed innovations in the two genres by adding new colours to the colour palette and utilising the materials to present contemporary topics on daily life, wartime, and revolution.
He also successfully applied the European painting style in his artworks. Notably, Nguyễn Sáng designed the first postal stamp collection in Vietnam, featuring the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh.
Two of his paintings were recognized as National Treasures in 2013 and 2017. He was also awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Art.
Nguyen Sang was born on August 1, 1923, in Dieu Hoa village, My Tho province, now My Tho City, Tien Giang province. He was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (Fine Arts College of Indochina) in 1938.
He joined the revolution in Hanoi, in August 1945. At the end of December 1946, he went to the Viet Bac revolutionary base, where he utilised his talent to serve the national resistance war against the French colonialists.
Sang spent days living with the soldiers during the anti-French resistance war. He became familiar with their figures, manner and equipment. However, he carefully made many sketches to study the soldier's physique, weapons, and personal belongings before painting them.
