Mai Trung Thu (Vietnam, 1906-1980), a member of the first class of the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l'Indo-chine in Hanoi along with Le Pho. During his education, he developed a painting style in which he painted on silk, organizing areas of bold colours into defined areas of highlight and shadow. Mai Trung Thu's early art celebrated folk themes and the innocence of rural Vietnam, and also suggested a nostalgia for the past. In 1937, Mai Trung Thu visited France to take part in an exhibition.

He settled there for most of the rest of his life. From 1938, Mai Thu regularly participated in Fine Arts Exhibitions in Paris. He participated with Le Pho in the Grand Exhibition in Algers in 1941.