Some 40 sketches and eight oil paintings featuring General Vo Nguyen Giap are being showcased at an exhibition which opened on May 26 at the Vietnam Military History Museum.

The displayed art works, which are on public display for the first time, were created by famous artist Van Duong Thanh, often during her visits to the General’s house in 1999.

In a foreword for the painting collection, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Camilla Mellander said that the paintings create an overwhelming impression of the life led a Vietnamese national hero.

The exhibition will run until June 8.

Born in Phu Yen province, Thanh is the youngest painter to have a painting on display at the Vietnam Art Museum, titled White Daisy. She is one of the most recognised female artists in Asia. She is also Vietnam’s first female painter to teach arts in Sweden.