‘A LADY IN THE GARDEN’, BY ZHU MEICUN (1911-1993), DATED 1954China. Ink and watercolors on silk, mounted on cloth. Finely painted with a noblewoman standing beside a craggy rock in a fenced garden with flowers and towering bamboo stalks, wearing fine long robes and holding a fan painted with bamboo and blossoming prunus, the left side with two fluttering butterflies.Inscriptions: Upper left, signed ‘Painted by Zhu Meicun’ and dated ‘June in the Year of Jiawu’ (corresponding to 1954); two seals of the artist. Lower right, one seal.Provenance: English trade.Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, little soiling and foxing, and minor creasing.Dimensions: Image size 34.5 x 34.5 cm, Size incl. frame 45 x 45.3 cmZhu Meicun (1911-1993) was a Chinese painter and a student of Wu Hufan (1894-1968). Zhu particularly excelled in painting beauties, with ladies in gardens with bamboo such as the present lot being one of his most popular subjects.Auction resultparison:Type: RelatedAuction: China Guardian, Beijing, 28 March 2009, lot 262Price: CNY 31,360 or approx.EUR 5,800 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: Zhu Meicun, Ladies (1948)Expert remark:pare the closely related subject. Note that the lotprises two circular paintings.朱梅邨(1911-1993)《園中麗人》，1954年中國，絹本設色，鏡片。著色清麗，園中麗人身穿優雅外衣，手持畫竹梅花扇，立於奇石旁，身邊彩蝶飛舞。款識：甲午六月上旬朱梅邨畫 ；鈴印：梅邨