Artist: Qi Baishi 齊白石 (1864 - 1957)
Consist of Four Fan paintings of Insects
Ink and color on paper, Vertical axis, Each with two fans, Wooden framed, Set behind glass
Painting (Sight): Length: 60 cm, Width: 33 cm (EACH PANEL)
Dated: In Baishi's Eighty-third years of Ages (1943)
Signed/Seal(s): Signed, with an Artist seal on Each fan

PROVENANCE:

Nien Cheng 念鄭 or Zheng Nian 鄭念 (January 28, 1915 - November 2, 2009) was the pen name of Yao Nien-Yuan (姚念媛). She was a Chinese author known for recounting her experiences during the Cultural Revolution in her memoir Life and Death in Shanghai.

ARTIST BIO: Qi Baishi 齊白石 (1864 - 1957) was one of the most well-known contemporary Chinese painters. His original name is Qi Huang and style name Weiqing. Baishi ("white stone") is one of his pseudonyms. Some of Qi's major influences include the Ming Dynasty artist Xu Wei and the early Qing Dynasty painter Zhu Da. The subjects of his paintings include almost everything, commonly animals, scenery, figures, vegetables, and so on. In his later years, many of his works depict mice, shrimps, or birds. Qi Baishi is particularly known for painting shrimps. Born to a peasant from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi became a carpenter at fourteen, and it was largely through his own efforts that he became adept at the arts of poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal-carving. In his forties, Qi Baishi began traveling and looking for more inspiration. He came upon the Shanghai School, which was very popular at the time, and met Wu Changshuo who then became another mentor to him and inspired a lot of his works. Another influence of Qi Baishi came about fifteen years later, as Qi became close to Chen Shizeng after he settled down in Beijing. Qi Baishi theorized that "paintings must be something between likeness and unlikeness." His prodigious output reflects a diversity of interests and experience, generally focusing on the smaller things of the world rather than the large landscape. Shrimp, fish, crabs, frogs, insects, and peaches were his favorite subjects. Using heavy ink, bright colors, and vigorous strokes, he created works of a fresh and lively manner that expressed his love of nature and life. In 1953 Qi Baishi was elected to the president of the Association of Chinese Artists. He was active to the end of his long life and served briefly as the honorary president of the Beijing Academy of Chinese Painting, which was founded in May 1957.

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