Diêp Minh Châu

Diêp Minh Châu was born in 1919 in the province of Bên Tre in Vietnam. Of modest origin, he was fascinated by drawing from a very young age and studied at the Indochina School of Fine Arts in Hanoi, from which he graduated in 1945. He shows great virtuosity in the technique of painting on silk. A humanist idealist, he is particularly known for his sculptures. A key figure in Vietnamese cultural life, he sat on the board of the Committee of the Vietnamese Fine Arts Association between 1963 and 1983. Afterwards, he was Secretary General of the Ho Chi Minh Artist Association between 1978 and 1980. During the 1950s, he went to study abroad, notably in Czechoslovakia and India. He graduated at the top of his class from the Prague School of Fine Arts. On his return to Vietnam, Diêp Minh Châu chose to devote his artistic production to a sculpture bearing the political ideals of his native land, where he was highly appreciated.