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Qi Baishi's Gallery 齐白石

Qi Baishi 齐白石 [Chinese Painter, 1863-1957]

CP No.

Title

Status*

Painting

CP-QBS-001

Vegetable
(110 x 33 cm)

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*A - Auction, NA - Not Available, R - Reserved, S - Available for Sale, Sd - Sold, C - Consignment to Chinese Paintings.com, Com - Commissioned to Chinese-Paintings.com for Sale

	Qi Baishi 齐白石 [Chinese Painter, 1863-1957]

	Qi Baishi (1864-1957) was from Xiangtan, Hunan, China, and was one of the greatest Chinese artists. A professional painter of peasant origin, his mature painting style only emerged in the 1920s, after he moved to Beijing. His paintings are mostly idea-oriented and his subjects include people, flowers and birds, landscapes, fish and insects. His painting strokes are free, bold, innovative and confident. As an artistic proposition, he advocated that "paintings should stand between 'look-alikes' and 'look-unlikes'". His creative ideas opened up a new road for Chinese painting. Qi Baishi's paintings were not matured until his late life. He once said, "The excellence of a painting lies in its being alike, yet unlike. Too much likeness flatters the vulgar taste; too much unlikeness deceives the world." Qi Baishi’s works have a fresh lyrical quality and sought to achieve a “likeness both in shape and spirit" of the things he portrayed. He was able to suggest the essence of a subject with a few brief strokes. One can perceive in his art a high sense of reality. Everything he painted is bubbling with life, joy, optimism and often humor, this reflected his own view of the world. The childlike quality of his painting is generally attributed to his rural background and his training as a folk artist. This trait is shared, however, with his mentor, Chen Hengke, and with several artists of the period with close ties to Japan, including Wang Zhen and Feng Zikai. The influence of Wu Changshi's xieyi manner also played a role in the development of Qi Baishi's personal style. Nevertheless, Qi Baishi's work retained a feeling of innocence throughout his long career. He was the Honorary Professor of the Central Art Institute, Chairman of the Institute of Chinese Painting, Beijing, and the Chairman of the Federation of Chinese Artists. In his late years, he taught in the Beijing Art College. Qi Baishi was given an "International Peace Award" in 1955. After his death, he was elected as one of the world’s ten "greatest cultural dignitaries".