Qi Baishi (1 January 1864 – 16 September 1957) was a Chinese painter, noted for the whimsical, often playful style of his works.

Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi taught himself to paint, sparked by the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden.

He first studied the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden (芥子園畫傳) and used performers, mainly opera, for models to practice his work.

“Qi Baishi started receiving artistic training... which consisted of fundamentals in gongbi (工筆) mode, which features fine brushwork and meticulous detail”.

[2] Despite his training in gongbi, Qi is famed for painting in the freely expressive xieyi (寫意 ‘sketching thoughts’) style.

After the fall of the Qing dynasty Qi was known for not letting all the political issues affect his work and keeping his own values and ideas through the harsh times.

Another influence of Qi didn’t come until about fifteen years later who was Chen Shizeng (陳師曾) who he became close to when he was living in Beijing.

[4] One of Qi's earlier series of works called “The Carp” was recognized and praised for its simple style - it contained no excess of decorations or writings.

As said by Wang Chao-Wen, “he based his work on reality while experimenting ceaselessly in new ways of expression, to integrate truth and beauty, create something yet unimagined by other artists, and achieve his own unique style, on that should not be artificial”.

[5] Wang Chao-Wen said that while Qi was talking to a student in Beijing, he saw an outline of a bird on a brick floor in muddy water.

From the article “An Appreciation of Chi Pai-Shi’s Paintings,” his journal entry reads as follows: “When I cut seals I do not abide by the old rules, and so I am accused of unorthodoxy.

My one regret is that I was not born three hundred years ago, for then I could have asked to grind ink or hold the paper for those gentleman, and if they would not have me I should have starved outside their doors rather than move away.

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”.

[9] Although Qi was not the first artist to focus on small things in nature, he was highly recognized for his thoughtful and lyrical approach in depicting these subjects.