Contemporary to Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Tu Nghiem, and Nguyen Sang, Le Cong Thanh is known for his modernist sculpture oscillating between figure and abstraction. Often citing female bodies as his inspiration for forms of beauty, Thanh employs geometric and biomorphic shapes to create volumes and space of in-between. In a way, his work recreates the modernist sculptural language with an Eastern philosophy, which portrays bodily sensation with subtlety.

Coming from a revolutionary family, Le Cong Thanh voluntarily enlisted in the army before going to college. He worked as a writer and illustrator for the newspaper of the Liberation Army until Vietnam reclaimed its independence from France. In 1957, he studied at the To Ngoc Van Course and later at the Vietnam University of Fine Art. After graduation in 1962, he taught at his alma mater for five years before going to Moscow Fine Arts University for further education. Starting in the 1970s, he focused on his own artistic practice at his studio alongside his wife Nguyen Kim Thai, who is also a talented artist who works primarily on paintings.