LookAtVietnam – An exhibition entitled Wartime Sketches by war veteran Pham Ngoc Lieu is being held at the Viet Nam Military History Museum.

Wartime action: A soldier features in a sketch by painter Pham Ngoc Lieu, drawn during the Quang Tri battle.

It is the first time the museum has exhibited the work of a single wartime artist. Each sketch could be described as a thought, a memory, a wartime image that army veterans will be only too familiar with.

There are a multitude of images, capturing the defiant mood of the Vietnamese during the American War, said Maj-Gen Le Ma Luong, director of the museum.

Lieu and other students at the Industrial Fine Arts College, which the artists attended from 1969-74, volunteered for service during the bloody battle in Quang Tri. The artworks on display at the museum were sketched during this campaign.

Born in 1942, Lieu served as an information soldier. One of the sketches on display Painting in the Battle Field was drawn in early 1973 at a signal post on the banks of the Thach Han River. “There I captured a strategic meeting in an A-shaped shelter. One soldier was sitting on a sandbag, another on a roll of insulating wire. One was holding a rifle across his chest while another was keeping his between his legs. A beautiful, closely and naturally arranged layout. After the meeting, they even tried to stay a little longer for me to complete my drawing,” said Lieu.

Another sketch, entitled, Trai Day O Quang Tri (Wire String in Quang Tri), is of a trench that had been attacked. It depicts broken branches and a ruined house under a burning sunset.

“In the background was a communications soldier stringing wire. I was rushing to capture him when a series of rocket struck all around us. All my papers scattered everywhere,” Lieu said.

Lieu has captured the action of some of the fiercest battles in Vinh Linh and Quang Tri.

“It’s rare to have enough wartime sketches for a personal exhibition. Luckily, Lieu has held on to many of his works. Some of the artists have had to sell their works, while other artists did not get the chance to witness the action like Lieu,” said art critic Le Quoc Bao.

A book entitled Wartime Sketches, some of Lieu’s finest wartime works, is also on show at the exhibition.

“This is a special live account of the country’s recent military history that evokes a magnificent time that one can never forget,” said museum’s director Luong.

Wartime Sketches

runs until May 1 at 28A Dien Bien Phu Street, Ha Noi.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News