Women artists trained in Western style, such as Guan and Pan, captured the fascination of the public, and were accepted as the embodiment of modernity.

[1] During the Second Sino-Japanese War, when eastern China, including Shanghai, was occupied by the Empire of Japan, Guan's former teacher Chen Baoyi refused to work for the Japanese and fell into penury.

[1] She was gradually forgotten by the Chinese public,[3] although her Portrait of Miss L. was selected for exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 1998.

The Xinmin Evening News published some of the photos, but misidentified Guan Zilan as the famous movie star Ruan Lingyu.

[1][3] Guan was deeply influenced by Fauvism, while applying Western avant-garde painting style to traditional Chinese subjects.

Rather than painting an image of likeness, she turned the picture into a visual play by using broad strokes and vivid, flatly applied colours.

[3] Guan Zilan had a daughter named Liang Yawen (梁雅雯), and a grandson Ye Qi (葉奇), who is a photographer.