Pham Ngoc Doanh was born in 1953 in Hanoi. He joined the army in 1972 and worked for almost 35 years as artist-soldier. Doanh graduated from the Hanoi Fine Arts University in 1980. He participated in several National Fine Arts Exhibitions as well as many art exhibitions about the Vietnamese Army. His works are in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts and Army Museum, Hanoi, and in many private collections both in and outside Vietnam. Pham Ngoc Doanh received the Silver prize at the Hanoi Fine Arts Exhibition of 1981.

“In summer 1971, my class at Hanoi Fine Arts University was sent on a field trip to the Ho Chi Minh trail. We were very close to the battle fields. We drew the maintenance stations along the transport line, rice depots, weapons and munitions staions. Some depots were bombed and their goods were spread out all over the place. We were young and  romantic, so we were eager to go on the road and keen to draw and to discover. The jungle was beautiful, with the big trees shining in the dim light of dawn. It was a pity we couldn’t draw everything. Life was hard but so joyful and innocent. We bathed in the streams in the afternoons, male and female soldiers at different places. The sound of laughing and flirting filled up the jungle at sunset.”
(Pham Ngoc Doanh, 2006)