GUAN LIANG (1900-1986)
Qingwen Repairing the Peacock Feather Cape, 1978
Mounted for framing, ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and dated wuwu and signed Guan Liang, with an artist's seal reading Guan Liang.
30 x 19 1/4in (76 x 49cm)
Footnotes:
關良 晴雯補裘 設色紙本 鏡框 一九七八年作

In this painting, Guan Liang illustrates a scene from the classic novel Dream of the Red Chamber, when the maid Qingwen repairs a rare cape made of Russian peacock feathers after Jia Baoyu, the protagonist, accidentally damaged it at a banquet. Qingwen works through the night to repair his coat despite being ill.

Another version of this painting, also painted in the early summer of 1978, without the stand and candle placed beside Qingwen, is in the collection of China Art Museum (https://www.artmuseumonline.org/art/art/zlgz/gz/gqjs/zgh/2019/01/08/8a807cb86817a2d201682c26db850516.html).