Giặt Hết Đi Cho Kịp Nắng, Ăn Cơm Muộn Một Chút Không Sao (Washing under the Sunlight - Eating Later), a sketch by veteran artist Ngô Viễn Chí at the exhibition “Revolutionary Sketching ” at HCM City Museum of Fine Arts. Photo courtesy of the organiser

HCM CITY — A new exhibition of 42 sketches featuring Vietnamese soldiers by veteran artists has attracted viewers at the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts this week.   

The exhibition, Revolutionary Sketching, sends messages about war, love and peace.

The works have been selected from more than 300 sketches of resistance wars by dozens of artists around the country, including Ngô Viễn Chí, Nguyễn Tấn Lực, Trần Hoàng Sơn and Mai Lan who served as soldiers. 

One of Chí’s sketches, Giặt Hết Đi Cho Kịp Nắng, Ăn Cơm Muộn Một Chút Không Sao (Washing under the Sunlight - Eating Later), is displayed on paper scrolls two metres long, featuring soldiers washing clothes on the river. 

The work in yellow-brown captures soldiers smiling while chatting in front of beautiful trees.

Artist Lê Lam’s Thanh Niên Xung Phong Nghỉ (Volunters), created in 1968 and is on displayed at “Revolutionary Sketching ” at the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts. Photo courtesy of the organiser

Chí was among the veteran artists who engaged in trips to south Việt Nam after 1975. He travelled to the south on the famous Hồ Chí Minh Trail.

Other highlighted works portray battlefields in the Central and Central Highlands regions during the war.

The exhibition offers viewers an insight into the tough but heroic and resilient life of Vietnamese people and soldiers during their fight for national liberation. Through the paintings, the revolutionary traditions and patriotism are featured.

“Sketches introduce to viewers, particularly young people, a special kind of sketching that was developed during the wars and have occurred since the early 20th century. These paintings are considered a precious source of documentation for the country’s history and contemporary arts,” said artist Trần Minh Hiếu of the HCM City Fine Arts Club.

The exhibition can be seen until May 14 from 9am to 6pm from Tuesday to Sunday at the HCM City Museum of Fine Arts, 97A Phó Đức Chính, District 1. VNS