The Vietnam Fine Arts Museum (also known as the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts (Viện Bảo tàng Mỹ thuật Việt Nam)) is Vietnam’s primary art museum, located in Hanoi. It showcases Vietnamese art from a range of historical periods. Much of the 20th century art presented in the museum is concerned with folk narratives of a nation in defence. As a collection, it draws on themes of martyrdom, patriotism, military strategy and overcoming enemy incursion. The building, built in 1937, was an abandoned Catholic girl’s boarding house. It was chosen as the museumm’s location by painter Nguyễn Đỗ Cung in 1962, and was opened to the public in 1966.
