Don Van Vliet Artwork

"Chinese Opera" Inscribed "to Ling Ling love Don G Van Vliet 80" Drawing measures 13 3/4" x 17" Black marker on paper in frame In the winter of 1980, my wife Ling Ling and I purchased a pair of vintage small Chinese opera gongs at the Percussion Center here in NYC and sent them as a gift to Don Van Vliet, who had a passion for all things Chinese. These were utilized in the recording of Don's song "Sheriff of Hong Kong" at the sessions held at Sound Castle Recording Studios in Glendale Ca. in May 1980 for Don's album "Doc at the Radar Station" (Virgin). After the album was released in early September we arranged for Don to attend a performance of the Beijing Opera on Sept. 27th 1980 at Pantages Theatre in LA, and this drawing of a tableau from that Chinese opera was rendered by Don at his seat in the darkened theatre during the performance.