The Beauty and Allure of Chinese Painting: Qi Baishi and Wu Changshuo’s Twelve Landscape Screens

OCTOBER 4, 2017 - OCTOBER 12, 2017

The beauty and allure of Chinese art transcends cultural boundaries and is appreciated across the globe. From Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) and Zeng Yu (1073-1135) to Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), Qi Baishi (1864-1957), these Chinese painters have left deep impressions on art history as masters of Chinese art. Their rare and influential works are the bridge to help the audience better understand the relationship between Chinese Artists and their interpretation of beauty in Chinese culture.

From the Chinese Song Dynasty to modern contemporary painting masters – Zhao Mengfu’s “Heart Sutra”, Zeng Yu’s “Ren-Shi Post”, Wu Changshuo’s “Twelve Greenery Screens”, and Qi Baishi’s famous and very rare “Twelve Landscape Screens” and other masterpieces was on display from October 5th to October 12th at Poly Culture Art Center in downtown Vancouver.

Qi Baishi’s “Twelve Landscape Screens” is vertically 180cm, horizontally 47cm, uniform in shape, and produced in 1925 when Qi Baishi was 62 years old. It can be regarded as the most expressive style from Qi Baishi’s stylistic transformations but is also the largest in the dimension of the twelve landscape screens format. There are currently two sets of twelve landscape screens, the other was produced in 1932 for Sichuan military commander: Wang Zuanxu and is currently part of a collection at the Chongqing Museum. The priceless set on display in this exhibition is the only set available for private collections.