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For many years my father has owned a painting with a signature and seal that we have identified as Qi Baishi. The painting is of yellow gourds hanging from black vines. Ten years ago when I was in Paris, I saw a number of "Qi Baishi" prints for sale, which looked remkarkably like paintings; I know how to look at a painting through a magnifying glass to look for pixelation, and to look for signs of brush strokes and ink seeping onto paper. The "prints" that I saw in Paris did not have any pixels and seemed to be composed of brushstrokes, but were still being sold as "prints." Needless to say, this confused me, and I have questioned the authenticity of nearly every Qi Baishi painting I have seen ever since.

I do not see any pixels when I examine my father's painting. However, I am curious if it could possibly be a print or some kind of fake. I would very much like to know how to tell the difference between a print/copy/fake painting and a real one. Any advice would be apprciated.

Hi Marie,
I suspect that you are confusing the printing processes. I have an old album of Qi Baishi's prints in my showroom, but they have not been made using transfer printing (with resulting pixels), but rather I think, screen printing. They are extremely difficult to tell from original paintings.

Qi Baishi, prior to his death in 1957, exhibited in London, from memory at the Grosvenor Gallery, so if you find paintings attributed to him with this gallery's stamps on the back, for the moment anyway, at least until the copyists apply them as well, you are probably on a winner. I found three at auction a few years ago, making a well above normal profit as a result, selling them in China.

However, the ones which I had, had been framed on cheap backing paper, which caused a serious foxing problem, reducing their value in the process.

Qi Baishi's works have been widely copied now for 50 years, and I do not have the expertise to verify yours or not. But it would be nice if you posted a picture. He is of course famous for his prawns.

Trusting this is of some help.

Regards
Tony

I have the same problem, some expert looked with a microscope and told me they are woodcuts, another told me they are reproductions..they are in Canada since at least the 60's. Mines have ink drops, when i saw woodcuts of the same (1 cow - 1 bird) they were neat with no drops. I don't know the Artist of the flowers.
They were in a basement for a long time, which is why they have humidity stains on same right lower corner side.
The bird after examined with microscope was returned to me with traces of unlawful scratches on the paper, as if he wanted to remove droplets.. just under the curve of the two ranches on the left.

Woodcuts, which are handmade prints, can sometimes be mistaken for Chinese or Japanese paintings, and vice versa. Auction results for Qi Baishi paintings have escalated only during about the last five years so, often fetching US $100k. If your father has owned it that long it has a decent provenance. Try to get it appraised by an expert (preferably two) before showing it to an auction house. Chinese paintings can be very difficult to verify and auction house employees are understandably reluctant to put their jobs on the line. If it is appraised as a woodcut hold on to it as values will rise.

Gentlemen, Thank you so much for your answers. Tony, yes, I do believe that you have answered the mystery for me surrounding what is meant by a "print." We have had this particular painting for over 20 years, so it is difficult to believe it is a recently made copy. I am attaching photos as requested. Thank you so much for taking my question seriously. I do appreciate the time and attention and it is very nice to know that others are as interested in Asian Art as we are here. marie

Hi Marie,
For the interest of readers and you, I have posted three from the album for comparison.
Regards
Tony

I just wanted to add that someone once told us this was a wood block print; but I have seen many woodblook prints, and know how the paint on the edges of each image hits the paper. That is not what is happening here with this piece. Any advice is appreciated.

It's an image of exceptional quality and whether it is a painting or woodcut very desirable to collectors and even a museum or two. The three woodcuts are not bad either. Not all woodcuts have ridged edges around the colour, the better ones don't have them at all, and many have very subtle colour gradations. The best woodcuts today are made in Japan, and many contemporary artists such as Chuck Close have their graphics produced there. Perhaps a Chinese paintings curator at an Art Museum would be able to put you in touch with someone who could verify your Qi Baishi. He is increasingly seen as an important figure in Chinese art history and his former house in Beijing has been spared demolition and is being preserved by the State Party. I bought a Qi Baishi painting of wisteria a few years ago without knowing who he was. As a child my mother used to take me each year to see the flowering wisteria, so hopefully his paintings won't get so valuable that I am ever tempted to part with it.

Correction (and apologies) - meant to type "three paintings" in above posting and not "three woodcuts."

No offense to anyone, but in my very very very amaturish opinion, none of the above four is a Qi Baishi work, because they are far less lively than the same subjects he painted. For any Chinese to try to collect his pieces, 99.99% of chance he will get a forged piece, and I think you all are probably westerners who have not fully appreciated the risks. I hope you did not pay too much for them.

So my grandpa bought his painting at 1956, but the weird thing is when my family asked the expert to check it, they said it's a fake, but why would someone faked it at that time? we want another expert to check it, can someone please tell whom to contact?

Hi Samuel,
May I ask what expert you used to appraise the painting?

not seeing the picture or knowing the circumstances may make these comments irrelevant, but Qi Baishi was already very well known in 1956, so fakes from then would not be out of the question. a related if slightly different point is that, like a number of successful Chinese artists today and in the past, Qi had others working for him painting pictures in his style that were then sold as his work (sometimes he would write the inscription and sign them, other times his assistants would). Some of the assistants (literally called "substitute brush" in Chinese) went on to renown of their own. Luo Pin, for example, painted pictures in Jin Nong's style for Jin to sell.

Here's an article on Qi that you may find of interest
http://museumzero.blogspot.com/2013/11/qi-baishi-dead-keeps-making-art.html

Here is another by a prominent historian, discussing the relationship between Jin and Luo.
https://www.chinafile.com/library/nyrb-china-archive/specters-chinese-master

Yes, that may be the case. Tony, your album looks like it may be a copy of the Qi Baishi album Rongbaozhai published in the 1950s

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