The sale marks a significant milestone for Vietnamese art on the public auction market.
Created in 1939, the ink-and-gouache-on-silk painting measures 85.6 x 114.5 cm. Presented as Lot 139 during Sotheby’s Hong Kong Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction at 6:30 p.m. on September 28, 2026, the work achieved a winning bid of HKD28.96 million (US$3.69 million). The piece is noted for its exceptionally large scale for a silk painting and stands among the most prominent silk works in Vu Cao Dam’s career.
At US$3.69 million, the “Conversation d’élégantes au jardin” surpassed the artwork titled "Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong" by master painter Mai Trung Thu, which hammered down for HKD24,375,000 (equivalent to over $3.1 million) at Sotheby’s "Modern Art Evening and Day Sales" spring auction on April 18, 2021.
