This set of artworks were painted in the early 1970s, when Hanoi was experiencing the peak of American bombing. The bulging eyes and mask-like faces represented in the portraits are indicative of the traumatic experience of living through the height of the war. Unlike official art of the period, which was intended to raise public morale, Tran Trung Tin dared to express vulnerability and despair in his works. Tran Trung Tin painted in private, using newspaper and whatever paints he could get hold of. His works could not be publicly shown in Vietnam until the late 1980s.
