In pre-colonial times Vietnamese art performed a mainly functional role. Paintings and woodblock prints were generally used to adorn temples or served a decorative purpose during Tết (New Year) or other festivities. Meanwhile, unlike their Chinese counterparts, the Vietnamese mandarin class displayed relatively little interest in silk painting or calligraphy, opting instead to hone their literary skills.

The groundwork for the development of Vietnamese modern art was laid in 1925 with the establishment of the École supérieure des beaux-arts de l'Indochine (Trường Cao đẳng Mỹ thuật Đông Dương) in Hà Nội.

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