QI BAISHI (1863-1957)

Born in Sichuan province, Lan Biguang was the father of Lan Yaoqu, a tycoon in the industrial and financial sectors in Chengdu, Sichuan. Lan Yaoqu was chairman of the Sichuan Industrial and Commercial Daily (which started publication on April 28, 1946) and was elected as Sichuan's delegate to the National Assembly in 1947. In 1936, Qi Baishi visited Sichuan and was graciously welcomed by the locals. Many of those, including the Lans, took this chance to ask for the artist's paintings and seals. Qi Baishi engraved two seals for them (See Illustration below), one with the words "Lan Biguang" on it, the other one "Seal of Lan Yaoqu". The photos of these two seals can be found on p.157 of the 8th volume of The Collected Works of Qi Baishi, published by the Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House in 1996.