“No other conflict saw as many sketches as the Vietnam War. War sketches are a unique, specialized genre in Vietnamese painting. Most of the artists were soldiers themselves; they painted their own lives, painted themselves, and were an integral part of the war rather than outsiders looking in. For them, a passion for art, devotion to their craft, and patriotism were one and the same. Loving art and loving the nation were inseparable—neither forced nor performative, but as entirely natural as breathing.

These wartime sketches carried the ultimate price of life and death. That is why, even after more than half a century, looking at them still feels as though they were drawn just moments ago. They remain 'hot,' vivid, and overflowing with the atmosphere of war; one can almost 'hear' the roar of bombs and bullets echoing from every stroke. From 1954 to 1975, ultimately, the entire nation walked a single, unified path—the path of waging war to reunite the country.

[...]”

— From "Conversations with Painting" by artist Lê Thiết Cương

Looking back through history, these wartime sketches serve as more than mere visual records of a turbulent era; they stand as a living testament to art's profound companionship with the nation's journey. Art in those days did not stand idly on the sidelines, but marched straight to the front lines, ever faithful beside the soldiers.

In the flow of contemporary Vietnamese art, adopting animal imagery as an evocative "pretext" to channel the transitional sentiments of a changing year, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, has long been a beautiful tradition among artists. Rooted in this sacred emotional thread, the buffalo under the lens of painter Lê Thiết Cương possesses a highly distinctive identity.

For Lê Thiết Cương, the inspiration for sculpting this zodiac animal stems deeply from his native roots. As he wrote in his essay "Welcoming the Year of the Buffalo 2021": "Vietnamese art originates from the village. Vietnamese art is village art. Vietnam is a country of villages. The civilization of the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese nation is a wet-rice civilization." For this reason, the painter compares the image of the buffalo to the pillar of Vietnamese culture and civilization. The closeness and familiarity of this animal, intertwined with its industrious, diligent, and robust nature, became the perfect material for the artist to weave into his works as a wish for health and peace for everyone as the new year knocks on the door.

The image of the buffalo in traditional Vietnamese art has always been diverse, stretching from 17th-century wooden reliefs in village communal houses to young boys playing the flute or flying kites in Đông Hồ folk paintings. To avoid repeating his predecessors, Lê Thiết Cương chooses his own path through a minimalist language. He strips away and discards redundant, realistic details, using simple strokes and primal color blocks to refine and retain the "spirit," robustness, and gentle nature of the sacred animal.

“Rice has accompanied the Vietnamese people for over 2,500 years.

Rice not only sustains the physical life of the Vietnamese but also shapes their spiritual life. The village fields stretching from the Red River Delta, the Central plains, to the Mekong Delta… vividly reflect the image of a wet-rice civilization.

The village is the fundamental unit that creates Vietnam. Vietnam is the village; Village – Nation. All forms of Vietnamese art originate from the village: village communal houses, village temples, village festivals, traditional theater performed in the village square, water puppetry at the communal hall, performances at the village gate… There is no Vietnamese person without their village roots within them.

[...]

Through Rice, one sees the Vietnamese people; through the Vietnamese people, one perceives the grain, and recognizes the spiritual DNA of Vietnam.

Rice, a Mother.”

Le Thiet Cuong

7.2025