Qi Baishi, like Chung-Wei Chiu, was born into a peasant family in Hunan province. He received little formal education, and worked as a herd boy. At age 20 he began to study painting. From 1902 to 1909, Qi traveled around China establishing friendships, studying and copying the work of important artists, working as a scribe, and carving seals (see detail below). In 1927, he became a professor at Beijing University Art Academy and remained in Beijing throughout the Sino-Japanese War. Despite misgivings about the communist takeover in 1949, Qi obtained great fame and respect, and became Chairman of the Chinese Artists’ Association in 1953. Qi Baishi is one of China’s greatest 20th-century bird-and-flower artists. Unlike painters of the classical tradition who valued nature primarily for its symbolism, Qi only painted subjects that he experienced first-hand, retaining a direct connection to his life in rural Hunan. Chickens were a part of Qi’s household. Here three chicks scrabble beneath a vine heavy with melons. This work shows several of the artist’s signature techniques: freehand painting (stems), “boneless painting” (flower petals), splashed ink (leaves), and color.