During the fight for Vietnamese independence the art community of the north played a crucial role in depicting the people's struggle for a new life; during the 1940s and 1950s both established and up-coming artists devoted their talents to the revolutionary cause, many enduring conditions of unimaginable hardship to document pivotal events of history and teach students at the Khoa kháng chiến ('Resistance Class'), a temporary fine art college set up in 1950 at Đại Từ, 70 kilometres east of Tuyên Quang in the mountainous Việt Bắc resistance zone. Several distinguished artists, including Nguyễn Trọng Kiệm (1934-1991), Lưu Công Nhân (b 1931) and Trần Lưu Hậu (b 1928) graduated from this makeshift school. Unfortunately many others, including the college's principal, distinguished artist Tô Ngọc Vân, lost their lives in battle.

For those that remained supplies were scarce, demanding improvisation. One of the most popular mediums of artistic expression at the front was the pen or pencil sketch, perhaps the best-known exponents of which were Tô Ngọc Vân and Phan Kế An (b 1923). Another common form was the woodcut, the creation of which demanded only basic materials which were readily available in the countryside. During the latter stages of the French War numerous artists experimented with woodblock printing, including Nguyễn Văn Tỵ, Nguyễn Thị Kim, Phạm Văn Đôn (1918-2000), Nguyễn Sỹ Ngọc (1918-1990) and Nguyễn Đức Nùng (1909-1983). However, the period also witnessed the creation of some notable paintings in oil by Mai Văn Hiến (b 1923) and in lacquer by Nguyễn Văn Tỵ, Lê Quốc Lộc, Nguyễn Sỹ Ngọc, Nguyễn Đức Nùng and Trần Đình Thọ (b 1919).

In 1955, just one year after the expulsion of the French, the Việt Nam College of Fine Art (now the Hà Nội University of Fine Art) was established in Hà Nội under the direction of Trần Văn Cẩn to replace the former École supérieure des beaux arts. In the years which followed, this institution became the crucible of Vietnamese art, in which western techniques, socialist realism and revolutionary themes were blended to create a distinctive national aesthetic. The first wave of eminent artists trained at the College included Nguyễn Sĩ Tốt (b 1920), Hoàng Quy (b 1928), Nguyễn Thụ (b 1930), Phạm Công Thành (b 1932) and several southern emigrés, including sculptors Nguyễn Hải (b 1933) and Phạm Mười (b 1935).

Another important milestone in the history of fine art training was reached in 1959, when the colonial-era National Elementary Decorative Arts School, known since 1949 as the National Crafts School (Trường Quốc gia Mỹ nghệ), was upgraded to become the Middle School of Fine Art (Trường Trung cấp Mỹ nghệ). Later renamed as the Hà Nội University of Industrial Fine Art (Trường Đại học Mỹ thuật Công nghiệp Hà Nội), this applied arts training institution was to become an important training ground for many leading contemporary Vietnamese fine artists.

In 1957 the Việt Nam Fine Art Association (Hội Mỹ thuật Việt Nam) was set up in Hà Nội with a brief to guide the development of Việt Nam's fine artists in accordance with the Communist Party line. Thereafter socialist realist depictions of revolutionary heroism dominated the work of both veteran artists such as Trần Văn Cẩn, Nguyễn Sáng and Nguyễn Đỗ Cung and younger figures such as Nguyễn Sĩ Tốt, Trần Lưu Hậu, Thanh Ngọc (Trần Thanh Ngọc, b 1925), Văn Đa (Nguyễn Văn Đa, b 1928), Nguyễn Quang Thọ (b 1929) and Nguyễn Thụ (b 1930). Throughout this period oil, silk and lacquer paintings, woodblock prints and sketches were predominantly figurative; many focused on themes of revolutionary heroism, utilising subject material such as life at the base camp, watch towers, artillery emplacements, the kinship between army and people, the affection between comrades-in-arms, the new active role of women and Uncle Hồ's guidance of the armed forces. Others depicted industrial reconstruction behind the lines in the new era of socialism.

When war broke out again in the 1960s many artists once more left for the front line. During the American War veteran war artists such as Nguyễn Văn Tỵ and Phan Kế An were joined by a younger generation which included Nguyễn Sĩ Tốt, Đinh Trọng Khang, Nguyễn Trọng Kiệm, Lê Lam (b 1931), Trần Việt Sơn (Trần Thăng Giai, b 1935), Vũ Duy Nghĩa (b 1935), Trần Huy Oánh (b 1937), Lê Thị Kim Bạch (b 1938), Quách Văn Phong (Nguyễn Anh Việt, b 1938), Nguyễn Thanh Châu (b 1939), Ngô Quang Nam (b 1942), Lê Văn Hải (b 1942), Mai Văn Kế (b 1943), Trương Bé (b 1943), Bằng Lâm (b 1944) and Nguyễn Lương Tiểu Bạch (b 1945), all of whom were prompted by revolutionary optimism and confidence in victory to devote their art to the service of their country.

Several important artists had moved to Sài Gòn during the Franco-Việt Minh war, the majority of them graduates of Hà Nội's École supérieure des beaux arts. Perhaps the most notable of these was pioneering lacquer artist Nguyễn Gia Trí, who is honoured today by an entire section dedicated to his work in the Hồ Chí Minh City Fine Art Museum. Another northern emigré, renowned silk painter Lê Văn Đệ (1906-1966), became the first director of the south's first dedicated fine art school, the Sài Gòn National College of Fine Art (Trường Quốc gia Cao đảng Mỹ thuật Sài Gòn), which opened in 1954 on the same campus as the Gia Định Secondary School of Decorative Arts.

During its 20 years of existence, the Sài Gòn National College of Fine Art turned out several important artists, including Vĩnh Phối (b 1938), Cổ Tấn Long Châu (b 1938), Nguyễn Thành Trung (Nguyễn Trung, b 1940), Đỗ Quang Em (b 1942), Hồ Hữu Thủ (b 1940), Nguyễn Lâm (b 1941), La Hon (b 1945), Uyên Huy (b 1950) and Nguyễn Tấn Cương (b 1953).

After reunification in 1975 the Sài Gòn National College of Fine Art merged with its sister college the Gia Định School (known since 1971 as the Gia Định National School of Decorative Arts, Trường Quốc gia Trang trí Mỹ thuật Gia Định) to become the Hồ Chí Minh City College of Fine Art (Trường Cao đảng Mỹ thuật Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh). In 1981 this latter institution was upgraded to become today's Hồ Chí Minh City University of Fine Art (Trường Đại học Mỹ thuật Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh).

Public interest in contemporary art in the southern capital was stimulated by the International Fine Art Exhibition (Triển lãm Mỹ thuật Quốc tế) of 1962, which featured art works from many different countries of the world. Thereafter numerous commercial galleries sprang up around Sài Gòn, including the Catinat, La Dolce Vita at the Continental Hotel and the National Library Gallery. During the 1960s too, fine art exhibitions were held and exchanges regularly sponsored by NGOs such as the Việt Nam-American Friendship Association and Alliance Française and by overseas foreign missions such as the French Cultural Centre and the Goethe-Institut. A number of art prizes were also instituted during this period, notably the Esso and Stanvac Prizes and the President's Prize. Notwithstanding a growing political instability and the onset of war, Sài Gòn had acquired a reputation by the mid 1960s as one of the leading visual arts centres of the Asia Pacific region.

In 1966 a group of young artists from Sài Gòn set up the Việt Nam Young Artists' Association (Hội Hoạ sĩ Trẻ Việt Nam), a movement which was to lay the foundations for a new avenue of contemporary painting. Alongside the aforementioned Đỗ Quang Em, Hồ Hữu Thủ, Nguyễn Trung, Trịnh Cung and Nguyễn Phước, this group included Nguyễn Khai (b 1940), Dương Văn Hùng (b 1940), Nguyễn Cao Nguyên (b 1933), Nguyễn Lâm (b 1941), Mai Chửng (1940-2001) and sculptor Nguyễn Thanh Thu (b 1934), all recent graduates of the Sài Gòn National College of Fine Art and the Huế National College of Fine Art. Departing from the romanticism and realism of their elder colleagues, these young artists experimented with more abstract styles and with avant garde themes and subjects. All of them are still active, either in Việt Nam or abroad, where they continue to be a source of inspiration and influence to the present generation of Vietnamese artists.

Another notable development during this period was the establishment in 1957 of the Huế College of Fine Art (Trường Cao đẳng Mỹ thuật Huế, now part of the Huế University of Arts). Since that time its teaching staff has included numerous distinguished artists, including Trương Bé, Vĩnh Phối, Tôn Thất Đào, Phan Xuân Sanh (b 1927) and Đỗ Kỳ Hoang (b 1935).