Anecdotes of calligraphers

Qi Baishi

Qi Baishi worked hard all his life and painted a lot. He gets flustered if he doesn't draw for one day, and itches if he doesn't carve his fingers for five days. His works are amazing and surprisingly good. As short as 1953, there are more than 600 large and small works. 1922, Chen Shiceng introduced Qi Baishi's paintings to Tokyo for the Sino-Japanese Friendship Exhibition, which was very popular. They were all sold at high prices, but at that time his paintings were priced very low in China. In the 1920s, under the impetus of Xu Beihong, Qi Baishi's works were gradually recognized by collectors, and the price rose steadily. At present, it is difficult to see Qi Baishi's works for public sale in the domestic primary market. Calligraphy and painting shops will buy his original works at a high price, but rarely see them sold at a marked price. In Hongkong and new york markets, Qi Baishi's works are auctioned regularly every year. He is the most auctioned modern painter. In the Hong Kong market, his latest price is about 3 million-110,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the higher price was created in 1989, reaching10.2 million Hong Kong dollars. In the domestic auction market, Qi Baishi's price is the highest, and the highest record is an album of Landscape auctioned by Guardian Auction Company, with a price of 5 1.7 million yuan. Later, Guardian held a special auction of Qi Baishi's works. Although the effect is good, the price of Qi Baishi's works has been in a downturn since then.