Qi Baishi (齊白石, 齐白石, 1864 - 1957) was one of the most
well-known contemporary Chinese painters. His pseudonyms include Qí
Huáng (齊璜) and Qí Wèiqīng (齐渭清). Some of Qi's major influences include the early Qing
Dynasty painter Zhu Da (朱耷, 即"八大山人") and the Ming Dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭). The
subjects of his paintings include almost everything, commonly animals,
scenery, figures, toys, vegetables, and so on. He theorized that
"paintings must be something between likeness and unlikeness." In his
later years, many of his works depict mice, shrimp, or birds. Qi Baishi
is particularly known for painting shrimps.
Born to a peasant from Xiangtan (湘潭), Hunan, Qi became a carpenter at fourteen, and learned to paint by himself. Although
Qi Baishi did not have any formal education or training in the field of
art, he managed to master many different techniques including
calligraphy 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 (吴昌硕)
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 (陈师曾) after he settled down in Beijing.
