Chicks

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Chicks

Qi Baishi

Chinese, 1864 - 1957

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
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Chinese Art: A Seattle Perspective", December 22, 2007 - July 26, 2009 (12/22/2007 - 7/26/2009)

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM

Supported by Microsoft logo