VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Thi Kim, a pioneer female artist of Viet Nam, died on Thursday at 93 years old.

Born in Ha Noi, Kim was the first female sculptor to make a statue of President Ho Chi Minh in 1946. That work along with four others, including Happiness (1950); Portrait of a Niece (1958); Female Soldier (1962) and Eleven Girls Protect Hue City (1968) earned her the Ho Chi Minh Prize, the highest prize of the State, in 2000.

Sculptor Kim also won national fine arts prizes in 1958 and 1995 and others from fine arts competitions.

Kim's outstanding works were highly acclaimed by critics and became pieces of Vietnamese cultural heritage, according to artist Nguyen Xuan Tiep, former deputy-director of Viet Nam National Museum of Fine Arts.

After graduating from the Indochina Fine Arts School in 1944, Kim worked as a fine arts teacher at a school until 1954. During this time, Kim was also the stage designer and make-up artist for the Giai Phong drama troupe run by her husband, painter Pham Van Don and poet The Lu.

Kim received a Doctor of Arts degree at the Leningrad Academy of Art in Leningrad (now St Petersburg). The couple exhibited their works in Poland in 1988. Kim's works are displayed at many museums in Viet Nam, Russia, Poland and France.

She was a member of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News