Page 186 - Christie's Fine Chiense Works of Art November 2018 London

PROPERTY FROM A NORWEGIAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
*163
QI BAISHI (1863-1957)
Shrimp and Sweet Flag
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
52Ω x 13 in. (133.5 x 33 cm.)
Inscribed and signed with one seal of the artist
£40,000-60,000 $53,000-79,000
€45,000-67,000
PROVENANCE
Acquired in Asia by Else Melhuus (1917-2010), wife of Ivar Melhuus (1913-1979),
Norwegian Consul in Hong Kong 1954-1959.

Qi Baishi’s shrimp and sweet fag are executed in rapid, cursive strokes.
Their rhythm and form combines with subtly varied ink tones to create a
calligraphic pictorial structure, typical of his mature work. The pictorial
composition seamlessly integrates with Qi’s inscription of an original verse.
The scroll combines poetry, calligraphy and painting within a single object,
demonstrating his fuency in the key cultural practices esteemed by China’s
historic scholar artists.
This painting was produced for duanwu jie, commonly know as the Dragon
Boat festival in English. As Qi’s verse notes, sweet fag, a fowering water
plant, is hung on doorways during this season to ward of evil.
齊白石 游蝦菖蒲 水墨紙本 立軸

題識：辰歲端陽節，菖蒲插滿們，但求殃崇絕，重見青天
青。白石題新句。
鈴印：白石翁
來源：挪威私人珍藏。1954-1959年駐香港挪威領事Ivar
Melhuus（1913-1979）之夫人Else Melhuus （1917-2010）
購自亞洲。

184 Other fees apply in addition to the hammer price – see Section D of our Conditions of Sale at the back of this Catalogue