Read Qi Baishi’s artistic life

“Stone Gate 24 scenes”, “White stone grass clothes”, “Peace Dove”…… Recently, the exhibition “Danqing Vientiane – Qi Baishi and his teachers, friends and Disciples” was launched at Liaoning Provincial Museum.

This exhibition is divided into four parts: “Painting to Ciwu Khan full Yan – filial piety, teacher, words and examples”, “heart like telling old friends know – old friends, and different”, “leaf eating silkworm fertilizer silk self-sufficiency – disciple transmission, successor someone”, “peace to see the eyes – family feelings, world peace”, with time as the axis throughout Qi Baishi’s life, A total of 459 pieces of paintings, calligraphy and seal cutting cultural relics of Qi Baishi and his teachers, friends and disciples were exhibited. Among them, there are 358 cultural relics in the Liao Museum, and Qi Baishi’s works such as “Ink Bamboo Picture”, “Rooster Chick Picture” and “Daffodil Picture” are all the first time out of the warehouse to meet the audience.

Entering the exhibition hall, the first thing you see is the exhibition “Painting to Ciwu Khan full face – Filial piety and respect teachers, words and deeds” part. In this section, a painting of “White stone grass clothes” attracted many viewers to stop and watch. As the only self-portrait of Qi Baishi in existence, in the picture, Qi Baishi wears a raincoat and straw shoes, like a farmer’s dress, and holds a guqin, carrying a book bag, and has the temperament of an old-style scholar. His low eyebrows, clothes and qin, book contrast, it is Qi Baishi peasant identity and literati mood of the embodiment. Growing up in a traditional society where teachers and students are like father and son, Qi Baishi poured his respect and gratitude for his teachers into his brushes. In the picture of Qinyuan Remembering the past, which Qi Baishi painted for the grandson of his mentor Hu Qinyuan, an old man can be seen faintly from the window of several tiled houses surrounded by the pond and willow trees, which can be regarded as Qi Baishi’s memory and remembrance of his early learning period following Hu Qinyuan.

In the second part of the exhibition, “One’s heart is like telling old friends – Old friends and confidant – Harmony is different”, Liao Bo tells the story of Qi Baishi’s personal art style gradually formed and won a reputation in the Beijing painting circle with the support of his teachers and friends through showing the exchanges between Qi Baishi and friends. “Kang Qiang every auspicious true Rui, the old return to the child is endless years.” A pair of “Bai Shi Weng ninety day Shou Lian”, not Xu Beihong and Qi Baishi between the true sense of love. This pair of couplets sent by Xu Beihong to celebrate the 90th birthday of Qi Baishi, with green branches and red peaches as the background of the couplet, one for the meaning of blessing, and two because Mr. Qi Baishi also likes peaches, which is very rare in Xu Beihong’s works.

“Learn me to live, like me to die” is Qi Baishi’s concept of cultivating students, Qi Baishi’s many disciples, such as Li Keran, Li Kuchan, Lou Shibai, Zhou Tieheng, most of them can own their own business, their own style. In the third part of “Leaf Eating Silkworm Fat silk self-sufficiency – Disciple Teaching · Successors”, in addition to Qi Baishi and his children to work together “Cucurbita grass and insects”, you can also see the true works of his disciples, such as Li Keran “Shepherd boy and cow back flute”, Lou Shibai “Flowers and birds”, Zhou Tieheng “Easy to Talk”… Each exquisite piece of work not only shows the inheritance and innovation in skills between the master and the disciple, but also shows the deep love between Qi Baishi and his disciples.

Qi Baishi all his life patriotic, love and hate clearly. In his long life of nearly 100 years, he has seen the chaos of war and experienced the peaceful and prosperous times after the founding of New China, and he knows how to cherish the hard-won peace. In the last chapter, “Peace in the eyes of the eyes – the feelings of the family and the world Peace”, a picture of the Dove of Peace was crowded with spectators. The upper part of the work shows a pigeon flying with wings, feathers painted in thick ink, red beak and claws; The lower part of the lotus blossom, and the lotus “lotus” word homophonic “and” word.” The audience said that from Qi Baishi’s painting “Dove of Peace”, they felt Qi Baishi’s good wish for world peace and family under the world.

According to Dong Baohou, curator of the exhibition and deputy director of Liaoning Provincial Museum, the Liaoning Provincial Museum has an indissoluble bond with Qi Baishi. In 1954, the “Qi Baishi Exhibition” held by the Northeast Museum was the first Qi Baishi exhibition held by the museum. The success of the exhibition could not be separated from the promotion of Qi Baishi’s son Qi Ziru, who worked at the Northeast Museum at that time, and donated his collection of Qi Baishi’s works to the museum. Qi Baishi is especially devoted to that exhibition, painstakingly painted “Broken branches flower map” gift to the museum. This work is also featured in the exhibition.

The year 2024 coincides with the 160th anniversary of Qi Baishi’s birth. As one of the largest collection of Qi Baishi’s works in China, Liao Bo carefully created this exhibition, which not only showcases the permanent charm of Qi school art and the style of The Times, but also pays attention to exploring the important elements of excellent traditional Chinese culture contained in the painting giants represented by Qi Baishi.