Gulin shanshui ji. Collection de paysages de Guilin

Chinese accordion-fold painted album executed in ink and wash on plant-fibre paper, unfolding into a continuous panorama of the celebrated karst landscapes of Guilin extending to nearly two metres in length.

Original green silk binding woven with floral, pavilion and animal motifs in red and gold, with a manuscript silk title label reading Guilin shanshui ji ("Collection of Guilin Landscapes"), stamped with a red seal. Large red seal on the opening leaf, the artist's seals repeated throughout the panorama, and an ink signature with seal at the conclusion of the composition. Slight cockling to the centre of the first folding panel; otherwise preserved in excellent condition.

Accompanied by three original documentary items: the visiting card of the painter Mo Jingwei, identifying him as a member of the Guangxi branch of the Chinese Artists Association, a member of the Guangxi branch of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and head of the artistic group of the Guilin Exhibition Hall; together with two illustrated bookmark cards featuring black-and-white photographs of sites along the Lijiang River, issued by the Guilin - Yangshuo Navigation Company and captioned "Souvenir of a visit to the Lijiang."

The album belongs to the distinctive artistic tradition of Guilin, whose limestone peaks, winding Lijiang River, and mist-covered mountains have long ranked among the most enduring subjects of modern Chinese landscape painting. Executed in ink and wash in a style rooted in the conventions of the literati tradition while addressing a contemporary audience, the composition unfolds as a continuous visual journey through cliffs, waterways, villages, and river craft, inviting the viewer to experience the scenery as though travelling along the Lijiang itself.

Mo Jingwei is identified on his visiting card as a member of the principal artistic and calligraphic associations of Guangxi and as head of the artistic group at the Guilin Exhibition Hall. Current research has not identified an independent biographical entry for him in the principal reference works on modern Chinese painters, suggesting that his career remained primarily associated with the regional artistic community.

The preservation of his visiting card together with the souvenir cards issued by the Lijiang navigation company gives the album additional documentary significance, illustrating the close relationship between artistic production, cultural tourism, and the promotion of Guilin's celebrated landscape during the second half of the twentieth century.

A remarkably well-preserved and complete ensemble, combining a nearly two-metre painted panorama, its original embroidered silk binding, and its accompanying documentary material, providing an evocative record of the enduring tradition of Chinese landscape painting in Guilin and its interaction with the region's growing cultural and tourist identity.