Qi Baishi

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Lore & Background

Qi Baishi was born in Xiangtan, Hunan, to a peasant family. He lived with his parents, grandparents, and eight younger siblings. Qi was schooled for less than a year due to illness. He was too weak to do much work and became a carpenter. While growing up, he read the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, which sparked his interest in art and painting animals, insects, and other types. He first used opera performers as models, then turned to anyone he knew to pose for him. Qi started receiving artistic training in the gongbi mode, which features fine brushwork and meticulous detail. His landscape paintings came as a result of his next mentor Tan Pu. Qi is famed for painting in the freely expressive xieyi style. After establishing himself in Hunan, it wasn't until his forties that he began traveling for inspiration. He came upon the Shanghai School and met Wu Changshuo, who became another mentor. About fifteen years later, he became close to Chen Shizeng while living in Beijing. After all his travels, Qi built a house and settled down. He began reading and writing poetry and painting mountains he saw while traveling, creating a series of fifty landscape pictures known as "Chieh-shan t'u-chuan." One of his earlier series, "The Carp," was praised for its simple style. It was not until his mid-fifties that Qi was considered a mature painter. By then, his lines were sharper and his subject matter had changed from wildlife to botany. Qi's first wife was Chen Chunjun; they married when Qi was twelve. The couple later had five children: three sons—Qi Liangyuan (born 1889), Qi Liangfu (1894–1913), Qi Liangkun (born 1902)—and two daughters. In 1919, Chen Chunjun came to Beijing and obtained Hu Baozhu (1902–1944) as Qi's concubine. Qi and Hu lived together in Beijing and had seven children: four sons—Qi Liangchi (born 1921), Qi Liangyi (born 1923), Qi Liangnian (1934–1938), Qi Liangmo (born 1938)—and three daughters.

Reader's Guide

Qi Baishi's significance lies in his ability to blend traditional Chinese painting with a personal, expressive style. Despite his training in gongbi, Qi is famed for painting in the freely expressive xieyi style. His works were based on his life and character. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, Qi was known for not letting political issues affect his work and keeping his own values. He managed to master many techniques including calligraphy and seal-carving. Qi's work in the early 20th century reflected tensions between tradition and modernity. His style evolved to strip away a level of polish associated with traditional élite Chinese court painting, while translating folk ideas into a register for an educated urban audience. Like many other artists and intellectuals, Qi viewed the ascent of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 with fear. He told fellow artist Xu Beihong that he feared for his life if he did not flee. When Qi eventually received a quasi-formal visit from officials, they expressed admiration for his work. The superficially traditional and apolitical themes of his work largely spared Qi from political interference. He received explicit and implicit endorsement from the state, and Mao Zedong collected Qi's work. Qi was elected to the National People's Congress and made honorary Chairman of the National Artists Association in the early 1950s. He was viewed as representing a continuing commitment to traditional cultural values in revolutionary China. Qi's works show no western influences, unlike most other artists at this time. Other artists praised him for the "freshness and spontaneity that he brought to the familiar genres of birds and flowers, insects and grasses, hermit-scholars and landscapes." Forgery and misattribution of Qi's work has become common. He is estimated to have produced between 8,000 and 15,000 distinct works, of which 3,000 are in museums. Since 1993, auction houses have attempted to sell over 18,000 distinct works attributed to him. A painting attributed to him, Eagle Standing on Pine Tree, sold for 425.5 million yuan ($65.5 million) in 2011, becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever sold at auction, though doubts over its authenticity were later raised by the bidder. In 2016, his works held the second position by value at auction. At the end of 2017, his Twelve Landscape Screens (1925) sold for $140.8 million (931.5 million yuan) at Poly Auction in Beijing.

Did You Know?

• Qi Baishi called himself 'the rich man of three hundred stone seals' (三百石印富翁).
• He was schooled for less than a year due to illness and became a carpenter.
• Qi's first wife Chen Chunjun obtained Hu Baozhu as his concubine in 1919.
• A painting attributed to Qi, Eagle Standing on Pine Tree, sold for 425.5 million yuan ($65.5 million) in 2011, but doubts over its authenticity were later raised by the bidder.
• Qi's Twelve Landscape Screens (1925) sold for $140.8 million (931.5 million yuan) in 2017.