It is a common sight in urban areas in Vietnam to see Vietnamese ladies holding hands while promenading, but the same might be frowned upon if practised among their male counterparts. The women are dressed in their national costume, ao dai, a long silk tunic worn with pants. As Vietnamese women are relatively taller among Asians, here in this simple sketch by the great Bui Xuan Phai, the height seems to be emphasised, to look as if as towering as the trees in the background in what looks like a park. Bui Xuan Phai, one of the internationally best known Vietnamese artists, was persecuted in 1957 for his support of the Nhan Van movement for political and cultural freedom, and was only ‘rehabilitated’ in 1984, when he was allowed to hold his first solo. In 1996, he was amply vindicated when he was posthumously awarded the coveted Ho Chi Minh Prize. He graduated from the Fine Arts College of IndoChina in 1946, and was involved in the anti-French resistance in Viet Bac and the August 1954 Revolution in Hanoi. He was dubbed one of the Four Pillars of Vietnamese Art, the others being Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Duong Bich Lien and Nguyen Sang.