Joy of Country Life
Details
QI BAISHI (1863-1957)
Joy of Country Life
Each scroll inscribed and signed, with a total of seven seals of the artist
A set of four scrolls, mounted on board and framed, ink on paper
Each scroll measures 68 x 33 cm. (26 3/4 x 13 in.)
20th Century (4)
Joy of Country Life
Each scroll inscribed and signed, with a total of seven seals of the artist
A set of four scrolls, mounted on board and framed, ink on paper
Each scroll measures 68 x 33 cm. (26 3/4 x 13 in.)
20th Century (4)
Further Details
Qi Baishi had a motto: "The marvel of a good painting lies between likeness and unlikeness."
Qi used both traditional Chinese freehand brushwork and folk art techniques to create his unique style. By fusing and assimilating both, his artistic maxim was always to create paintings that lay between likeness and unlikeness. As described in Cai Ruohong's preface in Likeness and Unlikeness-Selected Paintings by Qi Baishi, likeness is the concomitance of an actual object with the artist's understanding of it, while unlikess is the artist's abstraction of the object in his treatment of it - unlikeness is a phenomenon of sight, likeness of the heart.
In this selection of the artist's works, their essential aspects are apparent, with the omission of irrelevant features and representing their form and spirit in a matter of a few strokes. Qi's work is concise, working from a simplistic reading on the surface that, upon a deeper study, reveals a play of space and levels of meaning which engage the imagination and intellect and stimulate them. As Qi continued to work on his artistic ambitions over the years, he continued to reduce in the number of strokes in his delineation of objects without reducing its spirit, or understanding of form. By his later years all his works stem from his actual experience in the village, extended study of the animals and an exacting practice of sketching them, combined with his own ideals, painting from memory and from his heart.
Qi used both traditional Chinese freehand brushwork and folk art techniques to create his unique style. By fusing and assimilating both, his artistic maxim was always to create paintings that lay between likeness and unlikeness. As described in Cai Ruohong's preface in Likeness and Unlikeness-Selected Paintings by Qi Baishi, likeness is the concomitance of an actual object with the artist's understanding of it, while unlikess is the artist's abstraction of the object in his treatment of it - unlikeness is a phenomenon of sight, likeness of the heart.
In this selection of the artist's works, their essential aspects are apparent, with the omission of irrelevant features and representing their form and spirit in a matter of a few strokes. Qi's work is concise, working from a simplistic reading on the surface that, upon a deeper study, reveals a play of space and levels of meaning which engage the imagination and intellect and stimulate them. As Qi continued to work on his artistic ambitions over the years, he continued to reduce in the number of strokes in his delineation of objects without reducing its spirit, or understanding of form. By his later years all his works stem from his actual experience in the village, extended study of the animals and an exacting practice of sketching them, combined with his own ideals, painting from memory and from his heart.
Brought to you by
Ben Kong
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