Lychees and Grasshopper, n.d.

Qi Baishi was born in Hunan Province and it was not until he was twenty-seven that he began painting. He started with paintings of gods and portraits, and over time he learned to paint landscapes, birds, flowers and human figures. After touring the country numerous times to study the works of Xu Wei, Bada Shanren, Jin Nong, and other Ming and Qing artists, he eventually settled in Beijing in 1918.

Although his rustic and unaffected style was not well received by most Beijing connoisseurs, Qi was encouraged by the painter Chen Shizeng to develop his own style rather than imitate masters. As seen in Lychees and Grasshopper, Qi’s subjects were often seasonal, as one might expect of a careful observer of nature; this painting’s subject suggests early spring or late summer. Qi characteristically contrasts the expressive, boneless (mogu) technique he used on the basket, lychees, and leaves with the sensitively observed grasshopper rendered in the fine-line (bai-miao) technique.

LOOK FOR: The vibrant pinkish-red brushstrokes depicting the texture and color of a ripe lychee fruit.