Qi Baishi
Master of ink shrimp and rural life
Qi Baishi (January 1, 1864 – September 16, 1957) was a male artist of Han ethnicity, originally from Dangshan, Suzhou, Anhui, but born in Xiangtan, Hunan. His given name was Huang, courtesy name Pingsheng, and he had multiple art names including Baishi, Baishiweng, Laobai, as well as Jiping, Laoping, Jieshanweng, Qi Da, Mu Jushi, and Sanbai Shiyin Fuweng. He was a modern Chinese painter, calligrapher, and seal carver. Together with Huang Binhong, he was referred to as 'South Huang, North Qi.' His notable works include paintings such as 'Ink Shrimp,' 'Cattle Herding,' 'The Sound of Frogs Echoing Ten Miles from Mountain Springs,' and 'Tall Pines and Cypresses with Four-Character Seal Script Couplets.' He also published poetry collections like 'Borrowing the Mountain Poetry Drafts' and 'Baishi Poetry Drafts,' and picture albums such as the three-volume 'Selected Works of Qi Baishi' and 'Selected Landscape Paintings of Qi Baishi.' Qi Baishi became a carpenter apprentice in 1877, switched to carving in the next year; in 1888 he abandoned carving to focus on painting, studying under Xiao Xiangqian, Wen Shaoke, Hu Qinyuan, and Tan Pu among others; in 1889 he learned poetry and writing from the poet and painter Chen Shaofan; in 1894 he became president of the Longshan Poetry Society; in 1899 he studied poetry and literature under the classicist and writer Wang Kaiyun; in 1902 he traveled to Shaanxi, Beijing, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi; in 1919 he settled in Beijing and, following Chen Shizeng's advice, began reforming his style; in 1926 he taught at the National Beijing Art School; in 1946 he held solo exhibitions in Nanjing and Shanghai and became an honorary professor at the Beiping Art School; in 1949 he was elected a member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the All-China Association of Artists; in 1952 he was appointed honorary professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, research fellow at the Central Research Institute of Culture and History, chairman of the Beijing Chinese Painting Research Association, and honorary director of the Beijing Chinese Painting Academy; in 1953 he was elected chairman of the China Artists Association; in August 1954 he was elected a delegate to the first National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China; in December 1955 he was elected a corresponding member of the German Democratic Republic Academy of Arts; in 1957 he was appointed honorary director of the Beijing Painting Academy and passed away in Beijing on September 16 at the age of 93.