254 - Wang Zhiping

Wang Zhiping Lotus Flowers and Ideograms, 1991 Ink, gouache, and gold on paper, red seals Signed and dated in Latin characters in the lower right corner “WANG ZHIPING 91”; calligraphic inscription and red seals engraved on the left-hand page Dimensions: + Sheet (double page): 29.7 x 42 cm / 11 5/8 x 16 1/2 in. Condition: brown stains and halos around the image on the right; traces of adhesive in the upper left corner of the right-hand page. Otherwise in good condition. Unframed. Provenance: Yves Guérin’s guestbook, 1963–2006. Yves Guérin directed the Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice, then the Casino de Dinard, before becoming involved with exhibitions at the Espace Blanche de Castille in Poissy; from 1963 to 2006, he compiled some sixty original works—drawn and inscribed by the artists he hosted—into a single album. Created on a double-page spread in the guestbook. The left-hand page features calligraphic Chinese numerals—from one to ten, then one hundred, one thousand, and ten thousand—annotated in pencil with their Arabic equivalents and punctuated with engraved red seals; the right-hand page features the lotus composition in ink, gouache, and gold. It is the only work in the album to span two facing pages.