Born into a family of distinguished Mandarins as his father was a Viceroy of Tonkin Le Kinh Luoc, Le Pho (Vietnam, 1907-2001) was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts de l'Indochine founded by Victor Tardieu (France, 1870-1937). He held his first exhibition in 1928 along with his friends and fellow students Vu Cao Dam and Mai Thu. In 1931, he became Tardieu's assistant. Having attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he began travelling in 1932 to Belgium, Holland and Italy and discovered the "Primitives", which influenced his work. In 1933, he became a teacher at the Indochina Fine Arts School. After travelling to China (1934) where he perfected his knowledge of classical painting, he undertook the commission for the Imperial Palace of Hue. In 1937, he returned to Paris to take up the position of artistic director of the Indonesian section at the 1937 International Exhibition and has settled down to live in Paris ever since.