Qi Baishi is a famous Chinese painting master, once painted a painting, but his female apprentice felt that the teacher did not paint well, so he added a few strokes without authorization, and the original painting price was 7.64 million, and later became 630,000. What's going on?
In his later years, Qi Baishi could see that he was painting shrimp.
Qi Baishi was born in 1864 in Xiangtan, Hunan, and his original name was Chunzhi. His family was not wealthy, he lived in the countryside in his early years, and at first he learned to do carpentry, which was carpentry carving and the like, to supplement the family. Because the master who taught Qi Baishi to do carpentry is very good, and Qi Baishi is serious and studious, Qi Baishi has made rapid progress, and his carpentry skills are getting better and better. And because he often followed the master to work outside and run around, he gradually became famous in the local area.
Qi Baishi is good at using his brain, and he found that the flowers carved by the master, as well as other carpentry, come and go in just a few fixed styles, like what "unicorn sends" and "champion and first", there is no creativity. So he made some small innovations, integrating some other elements of Chinese painting, such as cordyceps, flowers and birds, into woodworking carvings. At first, I just tried it, but I didn't expect these new things carved out to be quite popular with everyone.
This experience gave Qi Baishi a strong interest in Chinese painting, but no one taught him to paint, and the picture books he could see were relatively rudimentary, so he was never able to really get started with painting.
Until one day when he was 20 years old, when Qi Baishi was working in a client's house, he found a set of "Mustard Seed Garden Paintings". "Mustard Seed Garden Painting" is a very classic set of Chinese painting textbooks. When a person who wants to learn to paint sees a set of paintings, it is like a person who wants to learn martial arts sees a set of martial arts cheats, such as a treasure. But the books belonged to someone else, and they were so rare and precious at the time that he couldn't get them from anywhere else. So what to do, I can only put in some hard work, so I can only borrow it from the owner of the book, cover the pages with thin bamboo paper, and trace the original painting on the bamboo paper one by one. In this way, I sketched for half a year, drew 16 volumes, and then completed all the drawings, and then returned the original book. In the next five years, Qi Baishi relied on this set of sketches of "Mustard Seed Garden Painting" to make wood carving, and in his spare time, he repeatedly took out the book to copy, studied and practiced hard, and the foundation of his painting was laid down.
A page from the Mustard Seed Garden.
Qi Baishi's paintings are mainly based on fine brushwork, and the portraits of mountains, rocks, trees or people painted are accurate, and they have both form and spirit. He bowed at the door of Hu Qinyuan. Hu Qinyuan is a famous painter in the neighborhood, he admires Qi Baishi's talent in art, and after some guidance, he accepted Qi Baishi as an apprentice, and since then the old man Baishi has studied calligraphy and painting in Hu Qinyuan's home.
Later, when Hu Qinyuan died, Qi Baishi continued to grope on the road of calligraphy and painting, and his painting style began to take shape after entering middle age. At this time, someone invited Qi Baishi to travel, and through traveling, Qi Baishi's eyes were opened, and he also made great progress in calligraphy and painting.
Qi Baishi began to change his style of painting, learning from Xu Wei and Bada Shanren, although the style of painting has changed, but there is no breakthrough. Later, Qi Baishi met Chen Shizeng, and if it weren't for Chen Shizeng, maybe Qi Baishi would still be a little-known rural painter. After Chen Shizeng's guidance, Qi Baishi's painting finally made a breakthrough, and formed a freehand style of indulging in the pen and heartily using ink. With the guidance of the teacher, Qi Baishi's painting skills have reached a higher level, and he has finally become a generation of Chinese painting masters.
Throughout Qi Baishi's life, the process of learning to paint was very difficult, although there were many famous teachers, but this is inseparable from his own efforts. As we all know, Qi Baishi's shrimp painting is very attained, and the reason why he can paint the shrimp vividly and vividly is not formed by chance. He raises shrimp at home, observing the swimming, playing, and predation of shrimp every day, and portraying these dynamics, which is very diligent. His careful and serious attitude was praised by later generations.
Shrimp painted by Qi Baishi.
We all know that Qi Baishi is good at painting shrimp, but we don't know that this master from the countryside is also very good at painting cattle, leaving a large number of famous paintings of cattle such as "Cattle Grazing" and "Ploughing Cow", and the "Ploughing Cow" made by him in his later years is known as a masterpiece of cow painting, because this painting also left a small episode.
Ploughing the Ox is one of Qi Baishi's favorite themes in his later years, with the southern spring as the background, depicting the scene of the old farmer plowing the paddy field in the rain, the brush and ink are concise and full of nostalgia.
Qi Baishi's painting of "Ploughing Ox".
There are many Qi Baishi, among which the female apprentice Guo Xiuyi has won the true biography of Qi Baishi. In the 50s of the last century, she studied Chinese painting with Qi Baishi, and served the pen and inkstone by Qi Baishi's side for 6 years. Guo Xiuyi is talented and diligent, so she made rapid progress when learning to paint, and was deeply liked by teachers. Her characters, flowers, birds, insects, fish, and landscapes are all mysterious, lifelike, aura, and creative.
One day, after Qi Baishi completed this "Ploughing Ox", the work was seen by Guo Xiuyi, she thought that the teacher's painting was not finished, so she specially imitated a "Ploughing Ox Picture", and added a few strokes without authorization to add reflections. At this time, Guo Xiuyi may still be secretly happy in her heart, and she may be able to surpass the teacher.
"Ploughing Ox" painted by student Guo Xiuyi
But the result was beyond Guo Xiuyi's expectations, the two paintings were sent to the same auction to be auctioned together, Mr. Qi Baishi's "Ploughing Ox" was auctioned for 7.64 million yuan, while Ms. Guo Xiuyi's work was only auctioned for 630,000 yuan due to unauthorized additions. Such a high price difference is not because Mr. Qi is more famous, but because Ms. Guo's extra reflections have played a role"Draw snakes to add to it"role.
It stands to reason that there are reflections in the water, which is normal, but why didn't Qi Baishi paint it?
Qi Baishi was born in the countryside and has personal knowledge and experience of rural things, so the paintings he paints can be so realistic, because he has personally experienced them.
Portrait of Qi Baishi.
Take "Ploughing the Ox" as an example, it is true that there is a reflection in the water, but it is only when the water is still that there is a reflection. The farmer in the painting is ploughing the land, and the water is clearly flowing, so the reflection is not visible, which is a detail. has experienced it personally, and Qi Baishi, who has a life, can notice it, but Guo Xiuyi has not noticed it, this is the gap between ordinary painters and masters.
Experts at the auction site said that Qi Baishi's "Ploughing Ox Picture" was not unfinished at a glance, but was created in order to create it"Plausible and plausible""Not similar"Effect. "Not similar"It is even more rare to be able to give the viewer the space to make up their minds spontaneously. Although Ms. Guo has added reflections, which are more realistic from a realistic point of view, they appear a little abrupt from the perspective of the picture, which destroys the sense of unity of the painting.
Guo Xiuyi and her master Qi Baishi took a group photo.
In an excellent painting, no stroke in the painting is superfluous, and any stroke you add is a snake and a failure. Brushwork will make a painter draw better, and realm will make a painter "go further". Why Qi Baishi's paintings seem to be mediocre, but the auction ** is so high, it is inseparable from the fact that his painting realm is higher than ordinary people.