Qi Bai-shi - 齊白石
Biography
Qi Bai-shi ( 齊白石), also
known as Qi Huang (齊璜) or Qi Weiqing (齊胃青), was born in 1863 in Xiangtan
(湘 潭) County, Hunan (湖 南) Province. He was a woodcarver in his early youth,
and taught himself painting, poetry, calligraphy and zhuan (篆)seal carving
in his spare time.
In the seven years beginning
from 1902, he left home five times to wander around many famous mountains,
lakes and rivers throughout the country and painted numerous landscapes.
In 1910, when he finally came home, he created "Jieshan View" and 51 other
landscape paintings.
Since 1918 he resided
in Beijing ( 北 京) and lived by his painting and calligraphy. Most of the
subjects he painted were flowers, birds, insects and fish. In 1928 he began
to sign his name on the paintings as 白石 ( Bai-shi means literally "White
Stone," which implies "Snow Mountains"). He said, at one time, "I learned
finger-painting in my youth; landscape painting after 30; and specialized
in flowers, insects and birds after 40." After that , he resolved to paint
"all the insects and birds in the whole world." During his lifetime he had
painted countless number of flowers and birds. He changed his painting styles
several times before settling down finally to create his own unique style.
In 1952 he was appointed
Honorary Professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. In 1953
the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China conferred on him
the honorable title of "People's Artist." He was elected President of the
Chinese Artists' Association at the Second National Congress of Writers
and Artists. In 1954 he was a deputy of the First National People's Congress.
In 1955 he was awarded the World Peace Prize by the World Peace Council.
He was born into a poor
peasant family in the year 1861 in Hsiangtan, (Xiangtan 湘 潭) Hunan, China.
His was a family of poor farmers who worked hard on their land. Ch'i (Qi
齊), however, was a delicate child, and as he was unable to endure the strength-taxing
labor in the fields, when he was eight years old his family apprenticed
him to a carpenter. After a ten-year term he decided to try fine carving
and cabinet making. He became a master carver and until his death was a
renowned seal cutter. In his search for designs he became interested in
painting and so discovered "The Mustard Seed Garden" (芥子園畫譜). This is a
comprehensive series of flower, tree, rock and other motifs compiled and
printed for student artists. He fell completely in love with this and copied
and recopied the entire series. This was his introduction to Chinese painting,
and thus he spent long years practicing the meticulous and painstaking kung
pi (工筆) style and assimilating the traditional. He managed to visit all
the celebrated scenic spots of China and so widened his scope and vision.
When he became the pupil of the literary scholar, Wang Kai-yin, he came
under the spell of the famous monk painters Pa Ta Shan-jen (八大山人) and Shih-tao
(石 濤) of the late Ming (明) and early Ch'ing (清) periods. Thus at the age
of forty he chose as his own the style called hsieh yi (寫意), or the swift,
sure, spontaneous, emotional brush stroke usually perfected only by the
exalted calligrapher scholar. To Pa Ta Shan-jen's strong, forceful brush
he has added ever more force - plus a striking individuality that stamps
him as one of the great painters of China and indeed of the world. Ch'i
painted continually but did not gain recognition until he was sixty. His
best work was done between his seventieth and eightieth years. Qi Baishi
died in Beijing on September 16, 1957.
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