QI BAISHI (1864-1957) Cooked Crabs and Wine, 1946

QI BAISHI (1864-1957)
Cooked Crabs and Wine, 1946
Mounted for framing, ink and color on paper, inscribed by the artist and signed Baishi Laoren, with an artist's seal Qi Huang lao hu.
21 3/4 x 13 1/4in (55.5 x 34cm)
Footnotes:
齊白石（1864-1957） 蟹酒圖 設色紙本 鏡心 一九四六年作

款識：白石老人夜鐙餘興，時年八十六矣
鈐印：齊璜老乎

Provenance:
A gift from Huang Yongyu (b. 1924) to Gerard Desput, circa 1959, thereafter by descent

來源：
約1959年黃永玉贈德士普（Gerard Desput），繼而由後代遞藏

This composition of cooked crabs, accompanied by two bottles of wine and a cup, is intended to be a festive, celebratory image. A gift to Gerard Desput from his teacher Huang Yongyu upon his graduation from the Central Academy of Fine Art in 1959, the painting offers a congratulatory wish. Whereas Qi Baishi's painting of ink crabs is among his most frequently painted subject matter, his rendition of cooked crabs--their shells colored russet from the heat--is far less common.

T US Import Tariff
Please note that this lot is subject to an import tariff of 7.5%. The buyer will be required to pay the import tariff, which is included in the purchase price, along with sales tax, if applicable. The amount of the import tariff due is a percentage of the value declared upon entry into the United States (it is not based on the final bid price). The buyer should contact Bonhams prior to the sale to determine the amount of the import tariff.

A biography of Gerard Desput written by his daughter

My father Gerard Desput found his life destiny in distant China, many miles from his native Poland, to study in the graphics department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (Zhongyang Meishu Xueyuan) from 1955-1959. As one of a small number of foreign students in China at the time, my father was able to immerse himself in the study of traditional Chinese art. When the Hundred Flowers campaign was launched in the Spring of 1956 students were encouraged to form a deeper respect towards Chinese painting traditions. My father was captivated by the delicately brushed landscapes and wonderful ink painting. He decided to further explore traditional painting and woodcut engraving under the guidance of his Chinese professors at the Central Academy, including Huang Yongyu who began teaching there in 1953.

To this day, I recall my father's great fascination with the work of Huang Yongyu, as well as Master Qi Baishi. As a young student in Beijing, my father was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit Qi Baishi's studio and observe him masterfully creating a composition with a few powerful brushstrokes. During my father's time in Beijing, he illustrated a children's book with his woodcuts Xiaocheng Yi Jiaren that was published by the Shanghai branch of Renmin Meishu Chubanshe in 1958.

Numerous paintings exchanged between my father and Huang Yongyu over the years demonstrated the continuity of their friendship, and in the early 2000's the two would reunite in Beijing, meeting at Wan He Tang (Hall of Ten Thousand Lotuses), the artist's compound east of Beijing. Together, they shared many memories from the 1950's, and reconfirmed the amazing relationship that my father experienced as a student of the master painter. Their reunion was immortalized in photographs.

德士普生平
其女撰寫

我的父親德士普（Gerard Desput）生於波蘭，曾於1955-1959年間在北京中央美術學院版畫系進修，他遠赴萬裡之遙的中國，並在那裡找到了他生命的底色。我父親是當時中國為數不多的外籍學生，得以浸潤在傳統中國藝術氛圍中修習，實為難得。1956年，中國推出'百花齊放、百家爭鳴'藝術工作方針，學校亦順水推舟，鼓勵學生重視對中國傳統繪畫的研習。我父親被揮灑淋漓的水墨畫，尤其是極盡經營的寫意山水，所深深吸引。因此，他決定進一步在央美學習傳統繪畫及木刻版畫，而1953年開始於該校任職的黃永玉先生便是我父親的指導教授之一。

至今我尚記得，父親對黃永玉及齊白石這兩位中國繪畫巨擘之作品的欽歎。他當時雖是漂在北京的後生晚學，卻得以參觀齊白石的工作室，觀摩這位藝術泰斗如何以力透紙背的寥寥數筆，便令紙上自有天地。我父親在京期間，亦有幸將自己的作品付梓。1958年，上海人民美術出版社將其所刻版畫童書《小成一家人》刊印成冊。

家父與黃永玉大師別後依然在魚雁往來、交換畫作中維持師生情誼。千禧年後不久，兩人於黃永玉在北京通州徐辛莊所建的萬荷堂重聚（見拍品245所附合照），聊起上個世紀五十年代的校園生活，及這樣一段從學名師的經歷是如何千載難得。