A lifetime of writing about President Ho Chi Minh.

In the history of Vietnamese revolutionary art, painter and sculptor Diep Minh Chau (1919-2002) is a special case, an artist who almost dedicated his entire creative life to depicting the image of President Ho Chi Minh. With more than 200 paintings and sculptures about Uncle Ho, Diep Minh Chau shows an artistic journey imbued with faith, respect, and deep affection of a Southern Vietnamese artist for the beloved leader of the nation.

Diep Minh Chau was born in Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province (now Phu Khuong ward, Vinh Long province). Although his family were farmers, he showed a passion for painting from a young age. In 1940, he graduated at the top of his class from the Indochina College of Fine Arts, one of the cradles of modern Vietnamese art. But his artistic path was not confined to the quiet studio. In 1945, amidst the fervent atmosphere of the struggle for independence, the young artist put aside his easel, took his sketchbook, and joined the resistance.

Amidst the smoke-filled battlefields of Southern Vietnam, Diep Minh Chau was both a soldier and an artist. His drawings accompanied the war, capturing the rhythm of resistance life, the faces of people, and the spirit of an era rising up to seize its future. It was in this context that the theme of President Ho Chi Minh became the most enduring source of creative inspiration in his life.

In that creative vein, on the occasion of the second anniversary of National Day (1947), Diep Minh Chau devoted his heart and soul to creating the painting "Uncle Ho with Three Children from Central, Southern, and Northern Vietnam." This painting was created using his own blood. The painting was done on a piece of silk captured during the resistance war in Southern Vietnam in 1947. Accompanying the work was a deeply moving letter in which he wrote: "After hearing Father's Declaration of Independence, Father's powerful and heartfelt call, and the song 'Long Live Ho Chi Minh ' sung by the Southern Vietnamese youth group, I was overwhelmed with emotion and, weeping, I cut my arm to draw Father's image and the image of the three children from Central, Southern, and Northern Vietnam huddled together under Father's beard..."; "My blood is Father's blood, my blood is the blood of the nation..."; "My whole being, my life, belongs to Father now...".