QI BAISHI (1863-1957) Dragonflies, Rock and Flowers
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
128.5 x 61 cm. (50 5⁄8 x 24 in.)
Signed, with two seals of the artist
QI BAISHI (1863-1957) Dragonflies, Rock and Flowers
Hanging scroll, ink and colour on paper
128.5 x 61 cm. (50 5⁄8 x 24 in.)
Signed, with two seals of the artist
Christie’s Hong Kong, Fine Chinese Modern Paintings, 1 December 2015, Lot 1489.
Chi Pai-shih, The Urban Council Hong Kong, Hong Kong, July 1973, p. 45, pl. 20. Masterpiece Paintings by Qi Baishi, People’s Fine Art Publishing House, Beijing, October 1991, p.31. The Collected Works of Qi Baishi, Volume 3, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, October 1996, p.94, pl.88.
Hong Kong, The City Museum & Art Gallery, Chi Pai-shih, 1973.
The owner of Feng Wen Tang was a visionary collector with a curious and excited mind. The collector received a progressive and open-minded education and was encouraged to discover art at an early age. She first encountered a reproduction of a Qi Baishi painting at a bookstore when she was in high school. Since then, she began a lifelong journey for her love of Chinese paintings, particularly for Qi Baishi. For over three decades, the collector assembled a spectacular collection of 20th-century Chinese ink paintings, with a strong focus on some of the best Qi Baishi paintings the market has ever seen. Many of these works were from the private collection of the artist Hu Peiheng (1892-1965), one of Qi’s closest friends; many were published by Hu in authoritative catalogues of the artist as early as in the late 1950s, soon after the artist passing. The collector once said a master painter “(He) must possess some exceptional qualities. Apart from having brilliant technique, he must be able to observe everything and the richness of the life experiences.” Such is the passion and simple excitement she witnessed when seeing a masterpiece by Qi Baishi, known for his insightful, down-to-earth painting of his rustic and humble life. It is the wish of the collector that art-lovers will understand more deeply the significant role Qi Baishi played in Chinese art history.
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