Qi Baishi's Poetic Accomplishment Discussed at Academy's Annual Meeting

Zhong Kui, a painting featuring Qi Baishi's poem. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The scholar-bureaucrat communities in ancient China viewed achievements in composing poems, calligraphy, painting and seal engraving essential to an individual's integrated artistic skill set. This belief has been held dear to modern artists as well, such as Qi Baishi, one of the preeminent figures of 20th-century Chinese art.

Qi, best known for his depictions of insects and birds with vibrancy and precision, said he was best at poetry composition, then seal engraving, calligraphy and lastly, classic Chinese painting when asked to summarize his own accomplishments in art.

Qi's poems, including those he wrote as stand-alone calligraphic pieces and on his paintings to reveal his true thinking behind his strokes, were the main theme addressed at the annual academic panel discussion held by the Beijing Fine Art Academy on Monday and Tuesday.

Established in 1957, the academy designated Qi as its first and only honorary president and boasts in its collection a donation of artworks from Qi.

The meeting held online teamed up 29 scholars across the country, investigating on Qi's lifelong interest in poetry, how it influenced his other works and how people can get a glimpse of his life, art and his outlook of the world in those poems.

Chicks and Fish, a painting with Qi Baishi's calligraphy. [Photo provided to China Daily]