Ink and watercolor on paper. Featuring a grasshopper and cabbage. Signed and attributed to Qi Baishi (Chinese, 1864-1957) and inscribed with one artist seal. 16 x 24 cm. Qi Baishi was an influential Chinese painter who is credited for modernizing the gongbi style of classical Chinese painting. Qi was born on January 1, 1864 in Xiangtan, China to a peasant family. Initially trained as carpenter, he taught himself to paint using the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, a painting guidebook from the Qing dynasty era. His earliest works included performers, everyday people, and animals, and he soon developed a reputation for his wide variety of subjects. Qi initially closely followed the gongbi tradition, a uniquely Chinese form of realism that favors fine brushstrokes and meticulous detail. He was introduced to the xeiyi, or freestyle method of painting, by mentor Wu Changshuo, and began employing a more lively brushstrokes and a playful tone. He died in Beijing, China on September 19, 1957. In 2017, Qi’s Twelve Landscape Screens (1925), set a new record for the highest-selling Chinese painting ever sold at auction at $141 million.

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American, 19th century : This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).