24 views of Stone Gate - Playing flute

Qi Baishi (1864-1957) is perhaps the most famous Chinese artist of the 20^th century. And there is even a crater named after him on Mercury. He is noted for his whimsical, playful, and seemingly simple style of painting. Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi became a carpenter at 14, and learned to paint by himself. When he came across the ‘Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting’, that sparked his interest to paint. He had not started learning painting and calligraphy until he was 27. After he turned 40, he travelled, visiting various scenic spots in China. After 1917, he settled in Beijing. Some of Qi's major influences include the early Qing dynasty painter Bada Shanren (八大山人) and the Ming dynasty artist Xu Wei (徐渭). What is unique about Qi, however, is that his works show no western influences, unlike most other contemporary artists in his time. Other artists praised Qi for the freshness and spontaneity that he brought to the familiar genres of birds and flowers, insects and grasses, hermit-scholars and landscapes. In the present painting, Qi exhibits his simple style with the rolling hills. The pavilions too have no sense of single-point perspective, giving a sense of child-like play.