In the early 1920s, Qi Baishi began to paint bamboo and began to paint "wind bamboo", which was mainly influenced by Wu Changshuo.
Qi Baishi met Chen Shizeng in Beijing in 1917. Master Chen had advised Qi Baishi to change the law. Therefore, Qi Baishi began to abandon the Leng Yi painting method of the Bada Shanren and Jin Nong, and transferred to Wu Changshuo of the Hai School. Because Wu Changshuo also happened to be Chen Shizeng's teacher, he had a great influence in the painting world at that time, so Qi Baishi had this condition. The bamboo painted by Wu Changshuo happens to be "wind bamboo", so it is not difficult to understand why Qi Baishi painted "wind bamboo". Wu Changshuo paints bamboo, the brushwork is vigorous, sharp and spicy, like a "golden wrong knife", and Wu Changshuo paints "wind bamboo", and most of the bamboo leaves take the horizontal momentum, which has a great impact on baishi.
▌Qi Baishi "Wind Bamboo Pheasant"
Mid-1920s
Collection of Shanghai Cultural Relics Store
▌Qi Baishi "Ink Bamboo"
In 1927
Collection of the National Art Museum of China
Late 1920s
The painting method of "wind bamboo" began to appear in the Tang and Song dynasties, but it flourished in the Ming Dynasty, and Wang Qi and Xia Chang were both known for painting wind bamboo. The bamboo leaves painted by Wang Qi, the branches and leaves fluttering, have the effect of dust. Xia Chang pushed the wind bamboo to the extreme, and the pieces of bamboo leaves swayed in the wind. The Ming Dynasty painter Gui Changshi was also good at painting wind bamboo, and his bamboo "branches and leaves are beautiful, teasing the rain and dancing wind". Li Fang of the Qing Dynasty painted bamboo in the fierce wind with bald brushes, and his pen was strong, and he once wrote a small poem: "The history of painting never paints the wind, and I win the heavens in difficult places." And the wind bamboo painted by Luo Ping is thick and light, ethereal and wet. In general, these wind bamboos are mostly elegant and beautiful, while Wu Changshuo's wind bamboo pursues old and spicy, which is obviously different in the aesthetics of pen and ink.
Like Wu Changshuo's painting of "Wind Bamboo", the brushwork used by Qi Baishi to paint bamboo is also a "golden wrong knife", with a pen that is unrestrained, sweeping horizontally and straight, sharp and vigorous, and the pen is sharp. It is completely different from the previous study of Jinnong's pen and ink clumsiness. The brushwork of the "Golden Wrong Knife" is said to come from Li Yu, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The Xuanhe Book Score Li Yu says: "Li Shi can be good at calligraphy and painting, and the book is in the shape of a vibrating pen and a curved pen, and it is as strong as a cold pine frost bamboo, which is called a golden wrong knife." "According to history, Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty painted ink bamboo, which can be used as stone with flying white, and gold wrong knife as ink bamboo.
What kind of brushwork is the "Golden Wrong Knife"? At present, it is difficult to define, Wu Changshuo painted bamboo "into the painting with books", falling straight into the center, as strong as carved iron, thin and powerful, as he said in the painting bamboo poem, "the pole is as straight as a arrow, and the leaf is like a sword sweeping." "Writing bamboo with seals, drawing leaves with cursive brushwork, and seeing thickness in dry brushes are a major feature of Qi Baishi's painting "Wind Bamboo". Qi Baishi paints wind bamboo thanks to his profound calligraphy skills.
This article is excerpted from the 8th issue of the Collection magazine "Bamboo Breeze: Qi Baishi Painting Bamboo" article in 2019, please pay attention to the current issue of the magazine for more content.