Qi Baishi: From Carpenter to $141 Million Art Star

Qi Baishi, born in 1864 into a peasant family in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China, rose from humble beginnings as a carpenter and woodcarver to become one of the world's most valuable artists. His 1925 work 'Twelve Landscape Screens' fetched $141 million at a Beijing auction in 2017, placing him alongside Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso in market value. Qi's artistic journey began in his teens after reading 'The Mustard Seed Manual of Painting', which inspired him to pursue art. He apprenticed as a carpenter at 14 and married Chen Chunjun in 1881. In his 20s, he studied with mentors including Xiao Xianghai, Chen Shaofan, and Tu Pan. In 1894, sponsor Hu Qinyuan enabled him to focus on painting, and he later studied under scholar Wang Xiangyi. In 1902, Qi traveled extensively, viewing works by Zhu Da and Xu Wei, which led him to adopt the xieyi (sketching thoughts) style. A pivotal friendship with painter Chen Shizeng in 1911 helped him gain recognition; Chen introduced his work to an international audience at a 1922 Tokyo exhibition, where all paintings sold. Qi settled in Beijing in 1917, producing around 15,000 paintings, thousands of seals, and over 3,000 poems. He received numerous honors, including the World Peace Prize in 1956, and died in Beijing on September 16, 1957, at age 93.