7:00AM GMT 25 Feb 2010 Qi Baishi, who was born to peasants and has received no formal artistic training, made $70m in sales in 2009. The only artists to earn more were Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, whose works raised more than $220 million (£143 million) in sales between them, the Times reports. While still relatively unknown outside China, Qi is a household name in his home country. The artist, who died in 1957, is so well loved because his work is original and striking, and - because he was so prolific - it is in plentiful supply. He is best known for his pictures of mice, birds and shrimps. Related Articles Christie's sued for 'misidentifying Titian painting worth millions' 25 Feb 2010 Lost 'Van Gogh' proved genuine 24 Feb 2010 His ranking on the Art Price list, which is compiled from 6,000 auction houses around the globe, reflects the changing landscape of the art market. Last year the large auction houses of America and Britain saw a large slump in sales because of the financial crisis. At the same time art sales in China were booming and Qi's popularity rose. Patti Wong, chairwoman of Sotheby's Asia, told the Times that paintings by Qi feature in "every important Chinese collection". Over the past 20 years his paintings have attracted higher and higher prices. The record acknowledged price for one of his works was set at Sotheby's in Hong Kong in 2007 when his *Peaches and Fire Crackers* (1952) sold for about £850,000, although Chinese auction houses have claimed much higher figures.

Qi Baishi (1863-1957) was born in 1863 in Xiangtan County, Hunan Province. In his early youth he was trained as a woodcarver and soon became a master in this discipline. Later he turned to painting, poetry, calligraphy and seal carving. Starting to paint at a rather late age, Qi was compelled to experiment with new forms of art. He obsessively copied different features and motifs from the famous Qing Dynasty painting manual The Mustard Seed Garden. Qi experimented with many different forms and styles of painting both from China and the West. Under the strong influence of Xu Wei, Bada Shanren and Wu Changshuo, he slowly started to develop a unique and more modern style of his own. Like the masters of the Qing who stressed the importance of subjective expression and a strong sense of individuality, Qi took this Xie Yi style, namely, painting ones feelings and mood rather than painting realistically, to new heights. Like the great masters which influenced his art, Qi Baishi's style and technique is classified as Da Xieyi, or 'Big' Xieyi. As opposed to the 'Small' Xieyi style here the artist uses large brushes and economy of line to capture the spirit of the subject with swift and vigorous strokes. Qi's paintings carry a strong sense of modernity and unique originality. Focusing mainly on flowers, birds, fish and insects, Qi gives his brush the kind of independence that very few artists dare to experiment with. His swift, sure, spontaneous brush strokes usually perfected only at an old age, turned Qi into China's most celebrated modern artist and indeed one of the worlds greatest painters. Qi Baishi is the Picasso of China. His simplicity, his forceful brush coupled with a strong sense of naivety and an almost child-like crudeness, combined to give the viewer some of the most powerful images in Chinese traditional art. In spite of his skills and complex compositions, Qi's art conveys a slightly awkward air which is the essence of his appeal. His most famous and attractive paintings were of shrimps and today one can refer to Qi's specific style of shrimp paintings as one can refer to Xu Beihong's horses, both artists gave these animals characteristic features that were immediately recognized by the Chinese as different and striking. Both artists had great influence over the evolotuion of modern Chinese art. Qi's mature style emerged only in the 1920's after he moved to Beijing, he was only fully recognized at the old age of sixty but continued to create and produced his greatest masterpieces during his seventies and eighties. He died in Beijing on September 16, 1957 at the age of 94. Works

Christie’s and Sotheby’s are getting a smaller share of an expanding pie Sep 29th 2012 Timekeeper This is what $65m looks like SLURRING is a method used by auctioneers to build excitement and anxiety among the bidding crowd. It uses carefully crafted phrases that create an illusion of rising intensity, such as “One dollar. Now two. Will you give me three? Do I hear four?” to put pressure on bidders and boost the final price. Yet buyers in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland have in recent years needed little encouragement. Sales in the region have soared from €691m ($859m) in 2004 to €9.8 billion last year (though the first half of this year was weak). Artprice, a research firm, reckons that Picasso, long the world’s most expensive artist, was knocked off the top spot in 2011 by two hitherto lesser-known Chinese painters, Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi (one of whose pieces, pictured on the next page, sold in Beijing last year for $65m). In this section Have I got news for you Spreading its wings Bumi’s a bum deal for investors Lost Guarded optimism From Picasso to Qi Baishi Scotch on the rocks Fixing the capitalist machine Corrections: Illegal logs and American beers Clarification: BCCL Reprints Art auctions had long been dominated by two houses established in 18th-century London, Sotheby’s and Christie’s. But the surging demand from China’s new rich for art—increasingly, Chinese art—has led to the emergence of two Beijing-based giants, Poly and Guardian, whose combined sales of Chinese art are now near twice those of the London duo. Overall, art sales in China are now 30% of worldwide sales, up from 9% in 2008. Though the Chinese pair have only 26 years’ experience between them, compared with the four centuries the Western duo have amassed, they have been quick learners. Last year their combined revenues were $3.1 billion, up from $397m in 2008. The two Chinese challengers have interesting pedigrees. Poly’s owner is China Poly Group Corporation, a state-owned defence manufacturer better known for artillery than art. Guardian was set up by Wang Yannan, daughter of Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese Communist Party leader until he was purged during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Unlike Poly, it seeks to emulate its Western peers. “Guardian is far more transparent than Poly. I can get my head around this firm,” says Clare Mc Andrew of Arts Economics, a consultancy. So far Western firms have been doing quite nicely running their Chinese art auctions from Hong Kong, though now Sotheby’s is seeking to enter the mainland, by means of a joint venture with Gehua, a smaller mainland auction house. The head of Christie’s in Asia, François Curiel, is sceptical of its rival’s move, arguing that to sell art to mainland Chinese buyers free of import taxes, Sotheby’s would need an auction licence from the government—which no Western firm has yet been given. Ms Mc Andrew also sees no sign of this changing, though of course Sotheby’s may be betting on the longer term. The art market in China is not entirely a pretty picture. For a start, some local auction houses seem to be wildly exaggerating their sales to big themselves up. The Chinese Association of Auctioneers reckons that $885m-worth of 2010’s reported sales have not been paid for, and may thus not have taken place. Worse, the recent sharp downturn—ArtTactic reckons auction sales in China, including Hong Kong, fell 32% between autumn 2011 and spring of this year—may prove to be more than just a blip. China’s auction market is much like other types of business in that country. Statistics are unreliable and the government gives local firms—often owned by the state itself or those with high-up connections—unfair advantages over foreigners. Even so, as with all sorts of other industries, from carmaking to consumer goods, Chinese consumers are splashing so much money about that it is too big an opportunity for Western firms to ignore.