Chicks
Painted with a few brushstrokes, these lively chicks epitomize Qi Baishi's principle that a depiction should lie between "likeness and non-likeness." Too much likeness, he continues, "is vulgar, whereas too much emphasis on abstraction is deceptive." Qi's convincing characterization of the chicks recalls his humble childhood spent in a village.
Ink on paper
Overall: 88 x 18 1/2 x 21 1/8 in. (223.5 x 47 x 53.7 cm)
Image: 40 1/2 x 13 15/16in. (102.9 x 33.8cm)
Bequest of Frank D. Stout
98.47.84
Provenance: Frank D. Stout (1921–1998)
Photo: Elizabeth Mann