Qi Baishi's ink painting album. [Photo/artron.net] |
The ink painting album, which includes 18 painting leaves that are testaments of Qi Baishi's mastery of traditional Chinese painting style of flowers and birds, fetched 115 million yuan at Beijing Poly Auction in December 2015. In each piece Qi pairs a plant or an article, such as oil lamp, with a small animal, mostly insects. He portrays the plants with carefree strokes while giving meticulous attention to details when painting the tiny insects.