Idle Life

The book has been important for von Hellermann, as well as her grandmother and parents, and they spoke about it often at home when she was little. The artist recently became engaged with the story again, her first encounter with it in decades. She acquired a number of different translated versions of the novel and began to paint – not most faithfully according to the book, but more based upon her recollection and imagination.

Sophie von Hellermann’s new series of paintings are based on her interest in Dream of the Red Chamber (1791), one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels.