Solitary Bird Perched on a Banana Plant / Qi Baishi (Ch'i Pai-shih)

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About this Item

Record Details

Accession Number
1949/1.196
Title
Solitary Bird Perched on a Banana Plant
Artist Nationality
Chinese
Artist Life Dates
(1864 - 1957)
Medium and Support
ink on paper
Object Creation Date
circa 1920
Object Creation Place
Asia (continent)
China (nation)
Beijing (municipality)
Creation Place 1
Asia (continent)
Creation Place 2
China (nation)
Creation Place 3
Beijing (municipality)
Inscription
Inscription and signature of the artist: "A farewell gift for Mr. Katsuizumi, as he goes south. Baishi."
Dimensions
152.4 cm x 53.34 cm (60 in. x 21 in.)
Century
20th century
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Primary Object Type
hanging scroll
Secondary Object Classification
Painting
Secondary Object Type
bird and flower
Physical Description
This painting depicts a solitary bird perched on a tropical banana plant. There are inscriptions and signature of the artist on the upper left-hand corner: "A farewell gift for Mr. Katsuizumi, as he goes south. Baishi."
Subject Matter
In 1922, a friend persuaded Baishi to submit paintings to a Sino-Japanese art exhibition in Japan. It was a spectacular success: his paintings sold for far higher prices than he had been earning in China and several were chosen for an exhibition in Paris, which led to international fame. The Japanese remained some of Baishi’s most eager customers, although he increasingly refused their requests after Japanese incursions into China in the early 1930s.
However, this painting was a gift for the artist's Japanese friend. The artist inscription indicates that it was a farewell gift for his Japanese friend Katsuizumi Sotokichi when he left Beijing for a more southerly post.
It perhaps anticipates that Katsuizumi would be lonely in his new environment. Made in probably the 1920s, it quietly bears witness to an earlier and more congenial phase in Chinese-Japanese relations.
Primary Keywords
banana trees
birds
plant
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
1723 x 3584
File Size
102 KB
Record
1949/1.196
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1949-sl-1.196/1949_1.196.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1949-SL-1.196:1949_1.196.JPG

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Full citation
"Solitary Bird Perched on a Banana Plant; Qi Baishi (Ch'i Pai-shih)." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1949-sl-1.196/1949_1.196.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2024.
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