Qi Baishi

Qi Biashi - The artist arrived at painting only at the age of twenty

According to the Western calendar, Qi Baishi was born on 1 January 1864 in Xiangtan in Hunan Province in Imperial China. The son of a farmer, he grew up in modest circumstances with his parents, grandparents and eight younger siblings. Due to health issues, he was only able to attend school for a short time and was also barely able to help on the family farm. Therefore, at the age of fourteen, he learnt the trade of a carpenter and woodcarver. Six years later, a teaching book on the art of painting fell into his hands and he began to be interested in painting. Purely teaching himself, Qi Baishi picked up a traditional Chinese style of painting, whereby he already considered animals and insects as his preferred subject. The familiar, everyday life of a farmer also found its way into his word and even more into his soul – as his success continued to grow in the following years, he always remained true to his roots and did not allow himself to be compromised. 

Tradition and freedom characterise his work

QI Baishi also soon worked with human models, initially found amongst the actors of the Chinese opera, and he finally increasingly asked those around him in his personal life to model. He succeeded in capturing the living conditions of his native Xiangtan with a powerful, quick and lively brushstroke, accurate yet spontaneous, austere like the archaic inscriptions in stone and ore of his culture, yet unforced and independent. With the development of his own style, Qi Baishi grew beyond the basics of genre painting, but with his lively freshness, the dignity of tradition always shined through. In the 1990s, he began travelling to Shanghai to discover new motifs for his art. His most famous depictions include the pictures of small animals such as shrimps, birds or mice, which impress with their immensely realistic representation. Following various trips through China’s provinces, he settled in Peking in 1917, where he became the first president of the Chinese Artists Association. 

Free from all Western influences

Qi Baishi did not dedicate himself exclusively to painting, but also worked extensively and with great success as a seal cutter and poet. Alongside an unknown number of circa 8000 to 15,000 pictures, he wrote many hundreds of poems; his importance for 20th century Chinese art can hardly be overestimated. His work is much loved today and reaches high prices: An ink drawing by the Chinese master sold for 425.5 million yuan in 2011 - approximately 65.5 million dollars. One special characteristic is the complete absence of Western influences which clearly distinguishes Qi Baishi from all other contemporary artists in China. He was a member of the National People’s Congress and in 1950 received the International Peace Prize. A large part of his celebrated work is found today in the Guangzhou Museum of Art.

Qi Baishi died on 16 September 1957 in Peking in the People’s Republic of China.