Page 40 - Sotheby's Part II Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

Qi Baishi was quite prolific, but he produced very few multi-part
Compared to Chrysanthemums, Gourds, Hibiscus, Pine Tree at
works. The four-panel Flowers and Fruits is a colossal work spanning the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the two sets of paintings are
more than nine feet in height. According to publicly available highly consistent in size, subject matter, and the content of the
materials, this is the largest extant multi-panel work by Qi Baishi. inscriptions. Based on other works from the same period, Flowers
Only Chrysanthemums, Gourds, Hibiscus, Pine Tree (1920) at the and Fruits may have been painted in 1920. Some believe that both
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is comparable. works were originally part of a single set of eight panels that were
later divided in two. The present four panels formed part of the
The four-scroll work depicts peaches, loquats and plantain lilies, Zhupingan Guan collection, while the painter Fan Tchun-pi came
pomegranates and plumed cockscombs and grapes. The peaches to own the other half. In 1980, Fan Tchun-pi, who was living in
are scrumptious and large – myths have it that one can extend Boston, donated the work to the Museum of Fine Arts in memory
one’s life by a thousand years if the peaches are eaten. The loquats of her late husband Dr Tsen Tson Ming. The paintings bear a
are perfectly round and wonderfully golden, symbolizing enormous dedication to “Mr. Zhongshan,” which is a reference to Cao Kun,
wealth. Pomegranate seeds and grapes come in clusters, which imply the military leader of the Zhili Clique and President of the Republic
a wish for abundant offspring. Finally, the plumed cockscombs and of China from 1923 to 1924.
plantain lilies stand for advancement in career and growing wealth.
The presentation of these symbolic flowers and fruit all together Over the course of his life, Qi Baishi had no shortage of friends in
signify robust vitality and offer well-wishes for longevity, endless government, but he seldom sought out their friendship. Even if a
good fortune, and lasting family prosperity. work of painting or calligraphy was made for a high official, it was
part of how he made a living as a professional painter or because he
The compositions of the four paintings are dense, and the images was introduced by a close friend. Cao Kun was politically influential
of grapes and loquats, in particular, seem to completely fill the in the early years of Republican China, and he even ruled the country
paper. The paintings have many inklings of the stylistic changes for a time. Some believe that Qi Baishi served as the Cao family
characteristic of the artist’s “late-life transformation” in his sixties, tutor in Baoding, while others hold that he was recommended by
and many of the extant comparable pieces were made specifically Xia Shoutian, who was friendly with Cao Kun’s aides. From his
for his appreciators. The long inscriptions speak much of Qi Baishi’s extant oeuvre, we know that Qi created many pieces of painting and
temperament; on each scroll, he gave critical opinion on traditional calligraphy for Cao Kun, including many outstanding pieces.
painting and was unafraid of mocking the painstaking brushwork of
some of his contemporaries, revealing his undaunted determination On the tenth day of the fifth lunar month in 1920, Qi Baishi
to throw out the usual models and establish his own style. The dedicated the six-foot Flowers in Four Panels to Hu Egong with the
brushwork is free, and the use of ink and colour is uninhibited, inscription “Of the paintings I have made in my lifetime, these four
but these four paintings also reveal the influence of Xu Wei, Wu are the fullest.” Just a few months later, he painted this set of four
Changshuo, and other artists who employed strong, expressive scrolls, which surpass Flowers in Four Panels in terms of dimensions,
brushstrokes. However, his compositions differ significantly from brushwork, composition, and density of painting.
those of other artists, reflecting a distinctive style. Together, these
four paintings have a forceful, spectacular energy. In such a grand
work, the composition and brush control are particularly difficult,
reflecting the full extent of Qi Baishi’s creative abilities.
THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 79