Among the first graduates of the École des Beaux-Arts de 'Indochine (VietnamUniversity of Fine Arts) in Hanoi, Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980) was a painter whose oeuvre celebrated the innocence of rural Vietnam. His participation in the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1937 led him to settle down inFrance. Despite staying there for most of his life, Mai Thu continued a deep sense of love for his homeland, painting tender images of Vietnamese women, children and idealised landscapes.