Qi Baishi said that he had never painted Wu Changshuo in his life. Is this self-effacing or is it true?

Sometimes things in the world are wonderful, and the fate between people is even more wonderful. Today we will talk about the wonderful "grievance" between two masters in the art world. Qi Baishi and Wu Changshuo are two masters in the modern painting world. They have always been referred to as Southern Wu and Northern Qi. Although the two masters have communicated in life, they have never met. Their communication can only be said to be superficially artistic. Just contact.

In terms of seniority, Wu Ke can be regarded as the elder and Qi is the junior, both living in the same generation. The two had a chance to become good friends, but it was a pity that they turned against each other because of a secular incident. Wu said, "Someone in the north imitated me and became famous!" Qi said "I have never painted Wu Changshuo in my life"! It can be seen that the two people have deep opinions!

Let’s take a look at the reason: When Qi Baishi first arrived in Beijing in 1919, he was not famous. The painting style is cold and elegant and cannot be favored by the market. Only his friend Chen Shizeng (a famous painter) understood him and appreciated his talent.

So he was persuaded to change his painting style and learn from Wu Changshuo's style. This was the "Reform in Decline" in Qi Baishi's autobiography. Qi Baishi was almost 60 years old at that time, and Wu Changshuo was already a recognized leader in the painting world, and his reputation was at its peak.

In order to open up the market and change the status quo, Qi Baishi also wrote a poem and asked Wu Changshuo to polish it, basically asking Wu Changshuo to set a remuneration standard for himself.

But the real fact is that no one valued Qi Baishi's paintings at all at that time. One of his fans was priced at 2 yuan, which was half the price of ordinary painters. Even though it was like this, no one cared about it. How could one word describe his plight?

However, the real turning point in Qi Baishi's career came from Chen Shizeng. It was Chen Shizeng who lamented that his paintings were not appreciated, so in 1922 he took his paintings to Japan to participate in the "Second Sino-Japanese Painting Joint Exhibition". Unexpectedly, it became an instant hit and all the paintings were sold at high prices. The green vines and snow are far away from the mortal world, but the old fou has lost its talent in old age. I want my subordinates to be lackeys, and the three families will turn around. It can be seen in the poem how humble Qi Baishi was at that time, and he was willing to be a subordinate of Wu Changshuo. Wu Changshuo saw that Qi Baishi was so humble and admired him so much, and he was very willing to support this junior, so he gave him a high evaluation and even made a false advertisement, saying that Qi Baishi "was flooded with applicants, and he felt that he was overwhelmed."

However, when Qi Baishi became famous, others suffered. Chen Banding, who is much more famous than Qi Baishi, sold 6 out of 10 paintings at an unknown price. Wu Changshuo, the leader of the painting circle, said nothing about this matter, and the information he left behind did not mention anything about this art exhibition. You must know that this is a very important art exhibition.

Before Qi Baishi became famous, he was looked down upon by others because he was from a humble background, had no imperial examinations, no academic qualifications, and no scholarly spirit. After he became famous, others said that his paintings were "artisan paintings" and "unfounded".

Wu Changshuo said this: "Someone in the north imitated me and became famous!" You can become famous after learning a little bit about me! On the one hand, he belittles Qi Baishi's level, and on the other hand, he highlights himself. After hearing Wu Changshuo's words, Qi Baishi's heart changed and he became less humble and said: "I am also a furry"! In his later years, he even bluntly said, "I have never painted Wu Changshuo in my life."

I think the painting must have been done before, but I just don’t want to admit it. After all, the two of them had a grudge. What is right and wrong is beyond the knowledge of outsiders like us. The past is like smoke, and some things are just so wonderful and unspeakable.