Page 177 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

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Qi Baishi is perhaps the most famous Chinese artist of the 20th
century. He is noted for his whimsical, playful, and seemingly simple
style of painting. Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi
became a carpenter at 14, and learned to paint by himself. When
he came across the ‘Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting’, that
sparked his interest to paint. He did not start learning painting and
calligraphy until he was 27. After he turned 40, he travelled, visiting
various scenic spots in China. After 1917 he settled in Beijing. Some
of Qi’s major influences include the early Qing dynasty painter Bada
Shanren (八大山人) and the Ming dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭). What
is unique about Qi however, is that his works show no western
influences, unlike most other contemporary artists in his time. Other
artists praised Qi for the freshness and spontaneity that he brought to
the familiar genres of birds and flowers, insects and grasses, hermit-
scholars and landscapes.

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