Haskell Small des Canotiers" (Luncheon of the Boating Party) to the Washington gallery. Small approached the endeavor in a manner reminiscent of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. He studied biographical information on each of Renoir's friends and acquaintances who were pictured in the boating party in order to create a portfolio of musical portraits, then established continuity among them with a recurring theme representing the flowing of the river. In 2006 Small composed a suite of miniature blues and jazz pieces, "Scraps," for Dutch pianist Marcel Worms's multi-national Blues Project. In 2007 he was commissioned by pianist Soheil Nasseri to write "Lullaby
The Painted Skin into English as "The Painted Skin" by the British sinologist Herbert A. Giles and was included in his 1880 translation of "Strange Tales". It reappeared with modifications in a subsequent edition, published in 1908. Since then, many other translators, including John Minford (2006), have published their translations of "The Painted Skin". On the surface, "The Painted Skin" is a story of a lustful scholar's encounter with a demon who disguises itself as a lady. Pu Songling intended for the story to be viewed as a parable of human desire and its negative consequences, and emphasised this with his appended comment,