Gai Qi ( 1774-1829) (attributed to)

Gai Qi ( 1774-1829) (attributed to) album of ink and color paintings on paper containing 38 plates from the “Hundred Beauties” series attributed to Gai Qi (1774-1829)

The yellow silk cover decorated with a sign of longevity encircled by bats includes a title band in classical characters reading:
“One hundred beauties by Gai Qixiang of the Qing, curated by Li Shimin”

The first page contains a long inscription giving the painter’s biography, his influences and a description of his work, as well as a cyclical dating to the eighth month of the year Guihai of the Tongzhi era, corresponding to the year 1863.

Among the various namesakes of the collector Li Shimin, it would seem that the most likely would be Chiang Kai Shek’s English teacher, who would have participated in the reworking of the memoirs of his second official wife Chen Jieru (1906-1971)
The two inscriptions, probably drawn by the same hand, suggest that the paintings were reworked around the same time (1863).

Provenance: Former Gérard Lévy collection, then by descent.

Dimensions: 22.8 cm x 13.5 cm