Among museums at the provincial level or above, Liaoning Provincial Museum, famous for the variety of exquisite paintings, is the first cultural and museum institution to collect Qi Baishi’s creations and has a collection of more than 400 works of the master, ranking at the first in China. Even though he never set his foot on Liaoning, Liaoning Provincial Museum is a “bosom friend” of Qi Baishi on account that large quantities of his works are preserved here. The bond between Qi Baishi and Liaoning has been forged since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Qi Baishi and Liaoning Provincial Museum were “connected” through three people, namely Qi Liangkun - his third son, Hu Wenxiao - the grandson of his beloved mentor, Hu Qinyuan, and Mr. Yang Renkai - a renowned connoisseur of his generation. It was through these three people’s hard work at the early stage that the valuable masterpieces of Qi Baishi could be collected and preserved in the museum.
According to Dong Baohou, the deputy director of Liaoning Provincial Museum, Hu Wenxiao and Qi Liangkun were invited to work at Northeast Museum of China, the predecessor of Liaoning Provincial Museum, with the introduction of Zhou Tieheng, one of the disciples of Qi Baishi. As an influential cultural museum in China at that time, Northeast Museum of China created a favorable atmosphere for these two new staff. In return, their special identities helped them to serve as a significant bridge linking Qi Baishi and Northeast Museum of China.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Qi Baishi, who used to be self-effacing and call himself a “shepherd boy” and a “carpenter”, has gained high reputation and prestige nationwide. Moreover, he was granted the title of “People’s Artist” by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China in 1953 and was honored as “World Cultural Celebrity” in 1963. All these have made Qi Baishi more passionate about China and grateful to Northeast Museum of China, the workplace of his son, and the grandson of his mentor.
“At that time, cultural and museum institutions did not attach much importance to the collections of contemporary calligraphers and painters, even including museums in Qi Baishi’s hometown. Liaoning Provincial Museum was the first to realize the value of Qi Baishi’s creations.” Dong Baohou introduced. With the concerted efforts from its own, Qi Liangkun, Hu Wenxiao and Yang Renkai, Liaoning Provincial Museum established a systematic collection of Qi Baishi’s masterpieces, which was highly appreciated by Qi Baishi and was reciprocated with more of his inscriptions and paintings.
Liaoning Provincial Museum collected a large number of Qi Baishi’s paintings at different stages of his life, depicting landscapes, flowers, birds, fishes, and insects, which illustrates the trajectory of his pursuit of art. Through Liaoning Provincial Museum’s collection, we can perceive the source of inspiration and development path of Qi Baishi’s works as well as the innovation and unique value attached to them.
Liaoning Provincial Museum has been committed to introducing and popularizing Qi Baishi’s masterpieces since the 1950s. The exhibitions of Qi Baishi’s works have been successively held across the country and the albums of his paintings have been published to promote Qi Baishi’s influence, making it mutually beneficial for both the museum and the artist.
