Ink art, reframed approach

Qi Baishi vividly depicted ordinary aspects of life with zestful and creative strokes, Lin Qi reports.

Qi Baishi rose from being a humble carpenter in the countryside of his native Hunan province to be one of the most prominent and internationally renowned artists of Chinese ink tradition in the 20th century.

Recurring subjects under his strokes, which have achieved wide popularity, are those common, inconspicuous aspects one can find in any garden in the world: the flowers, vegetables, armies of insects, birds and aquatic creatures.

He depicted them with fine brushwork and in a colorful and free style, not only just as a reminiscence or reminder of the simple, peaceful rural life he was raised up in. Also, he built this microcosmic world through which he expressed the vibrancy and also the fragility of life.