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I inherited 2 paintings from a great-aunt. I am trying to find out who the painter(s) may be (based on what seem to be signatures) and what the seals mean. Also wondering if I should list them as special items for insurance purposes. Any help will be greatly appreciated. (sorry for the sideways photos, don't know how to fix that - new program I'm still learning).

the inscription is hoping to be by Chinese painter Qi Baishi, but fakes attributed to him far outnumber the number of genuine works.

The paintings are signed as Qi Baishi. Please
post the entire painting. Qi Baishi created thousands of paintings, and thousands more are forgeries of his work

I am unable to convert the photos I took with either my iPhone or my SONY A77 to under 500 kb. The photos below are taken through the glass of the frame (both pictures are professionally framed and matted). Both had to be cropped considerably to get within the size limitations of this email site (and as you can see one I actually had to divide into 2 images). I do not at this time have any site on the internet to which I can upload the photos to remedy this. I will check with my son (he is a computer technician at a local college) to attempt to get you better and full view photos.

The paintings appear to be on thick paper and neither has any impression in the paper that tends to indicate they are prints. The matting openings are roughly 8" by 12" on each give or take a fraction of an inch.

My son says he can get them posted to a site and then link them here. We will do that today or tomorrow I expect.

Here are links to the paintings we loaded onto IMGUR:

http://i.imgur.com/ljpe4iI.jpg

http://imgur.com/8LB0UH6

http://imgur.com/LpLU3l8

Thank you for posting the additional photos.
By now I am sure that you searched the internet
for Qi Baishi. Like most important Chinese artists
of the Twentieth Century, his biography reads like
a novel about struggles, trials, and triumphs.
The problem I see with your paintings is the location
of the signatures. Qi Biashi attempted to place his
signature as near the edge of the paper as he could. Check that idea with other examples. The
color of your paintings seem slightly too soft,
so check that too. If you feel it is needed, there
are qualified internet sources that can authenticate
Chinese, for a reasonable price.

I found on line an image that is very much like one of my paintings. I am not an expert, though I have painted in acrylics. The one on line is almost identical to one of mine in fact.

http://www.wikiart.org/en/qi-baishi#supersized-featured-239599

The differences, to me, are that in mine the plant at the top is "more complete" with the top leaves darker and, as I see it, the leaf or flower is "all there" rather than shown as a mirage of a flower. It may be that he painted that way (see through plants - or leaves).

One thing I looked at is the signatures. They appear to me to be so much alike that it seems to me one of the two is a copy of the other (done as a print maybe) though my eyes cannot differentiate between the 2 signatures at all.

I will keep looking to see if I can find one similar to my other painting.

I would greatly appreciate any comments from those of you who are familiar with Chinese painters, and in particular with Qi Bashai's works.

I found the second one also (both on Wikiart - this one in 'flower painting' and the other under 'ink and wash' painting). This on line photo (?) one appears to be more "striking" than mine in the leaves at the bottom (which also have much darker and distinct "veins" in the leaves). The signatures are again too identical for me to see any differences (they even have what appear to me to be identical breaks in lines of the signature at the same location as breaks in the Wikiart image.

http://www.wikiart.org/en/qi-baishi#supersized-flower-painting-239592

I have to admit that I haven't seen enough images of his work to be able to see which is a copy and which an original (or an original the sun has reduced in vibrancy etc).

I again would appreciate any and all comments and opinions from you all, you being much more knowledgeable than I am regarding his art.

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