July 1965: Phan Kế An in the Northern Central Provinces

An early member of the Việt Minh, Phan Kế An joined the movement while a student at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine. He also persuaded his father to switch sides from working for Emperor Bảo Đại to serving Hồ Chí Minh. His father eventually became vice-premier of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) under Hồ Chí Minh.

An’s sketches depicted female militia soldiers in the central and northern provinces of Vietnam. An drew the first sketch (fig. 1) in Thanh Hoá Province, on the North Central Coast region of Vietnam.

Figure 1: Phan Kế An, 1965, Thanh Hoá Province on the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. “Nữ du kích Thanh Hoá (Woman guerrilla in Thanh Hoa).” Ink on machine-made paper

In another sketch (fig. 2), the militia soldier is drawn cleaning her gun. This time in Quảng Bình Province, Quảng Tiến is a commune and village in Quảng Trạch District in central Vietnam.

Figure 2: Phan Kế An, 1965, Quảng Tiến village, Quảng Trạch District, Quảng Bình Province. “Nữ dân quân Quảng Tiến lau súng (Militia woman in Quang Tien cleaning her gun).” Ink on machine-made paper.

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