Paper short abstract:

This paper studies that how famous Chinese artist Qi Baishi (1864-1957) marketed himself. How did this marketing play the crucial role in establishing his art career, drive him from an artisan to 'the People's Artist' through the patronage of the provincial fellows, politicians and the nation?

Paper long abstract:

Qi Baishi (1864-1957), one of the most famous modern Chinese artists, relied on his traditional artisan training and excelled in poetry, seal-carving, calligraphy and painting. This paper examines the complicated relationship between Qi Baishi's humble background, art performance and his art circle within the Beijing art world. Qi Baishi was a man both of the studio and of the marketplace; therefore, throughout his life he had to depend on his own means for survival, which drives him to assume a positive stance towards art as a commodity. It aims to explore two core research questions: 'Why and how was Qi elevated from the status of a local artist to that of an artistic figure of nationwide?' and 'how did he adopt the vernacular style for his painting?'

Firstly, I examine the ways in which Qi Baishi's individual patrons promoted him through social networks based on his hometown connections, including his provincial ghost painter service for his clients, officials and scholars. Next, by exploring Qi Baishi's sophisticated ways of selling by price lists (in 1903, 1919, 1929 and 1940s) and his social network, I scrutinize how Qi Baishi promotes, circulates and executes his painting, calligraphy and seal-carving within the competitive art market in China.