Qi Baishi (1864-1957), Set of two Chinese ink and color on paper, circa 1947.
Hand painted in bright colors, and vigorous strokes, fresh and lively manner, expressed nature and life, one depicted wisteria and cricket; other showing morning glory blooms and red dragonfly. Both, signed by artist, Qi BaiShi, followed by red signature seal. Each, sets behind glass, and wooden box framed. This pair of paintings are in series with LOT 273

Dimension: 57-1/2" L x 17" W (each)

PROVENANCE:
From the collection of General Chen Qi (陳淇), who styled himself as “Cangquan” (滄泉）and “Yuquanshanren”（玉泉山人), an artist, calligrapher, a prominent businessman and private antiques collector.
EDEN Fine Antiques Galleries is honored and proud to offer General Chen Qi's heirloom collections including unpublished Qi Baishi paintings, Fu BaoShi, Zhang Daqian as well as his own calligraphy and paintings.
General Chen Qi's collections can be found on Lot 17, 18, 19, 20, and Lot-88 through Lot-142, continuing at Lot 265 through Lot-298.
For more information about General Chen Qi's Biography, please refer to provenance information at Lot 288.

LOT NOTES

Qi Baishi (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. He died in Beijing on September 16, 1957.

Over all in EXCELLENT Condition. Natural imperfection on the medium (paper or silk), regardless from any major damages; includes light blooms, discoloration and minor fading. Consider normal due to the ages.
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