Witness Collection was initiated in 1987, at a time when Vietnam remained largely closed to the outside world and was still recovering from decades of war. The collection has been carefully developed to include the leading artists from each of the four generations since the establishment of the original Fine Art School of Indochina in 1925. The first generation covers those artists who studied at the French-influenced college between 1925-45; the second generation covers the war years from 1945-75; the third generation covers Vietnam's post-war socialist realism period of 1975-86; and the fourth generation covers the period from the country's initiation of its đổi mới (renovation) policies in 1986 to the present day.

More than 100 artists are represented in Witness Collection, including: Nguyễn Phan Chánh, Tô Ngọc Vân, Trần Văn Cẩn, Nguyễn Tường Lân, Nguyễn Gia Trí, Mai Trung Thư, Lưu Văn Sìn, Nguyễn Văn Tỵ, Lương Xuân Nhị, Dương Bích Liên, Nguyễn Tư Nghiêm, Nguyễn Sáng, Bùi Xuân Phái, Nguyễn Đức Nùng, Hoàng Tích Chù, Phan Kế An, Trần Đình Thọ, Thái Hà, Nguyễn Xuân Việt, Lê Quảng Hà, Nguyễn Văn Cường and many others.