Lamp-lit Pavilion on a Rainy Night
Qi Baishi Chinese
Not on view
This work, painted when Qi was seventy-one, evokes a contemplative, even melancholy, mood. Broad streaks of wash and saturated blobs of ink convey a sense of moisture-suffused darkness and lonely isolation. A two-story hall, nearly engulfed by the dark silhouettes of the trees, offers the only sanctuary from the night, its uninked walls and interior standing forth as the sole bright spot in the picture. A scholar seated by a window reads a book by the light of a single lamp.
Even though Qi had been a resident of Beijing for fifteen years when he painted this work, he still felt like a stranger there and had a lingering nostalgia for the simpler existence of his childhood home. His confidence in his own vision and his refusal to sink into sentimentality are demonstrated by his boldly brushed dedication, written in the sharp blocky stele style that stands in stark contrast to the soft blurry quality of the image.
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