Gao Qipei

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Gāo Qípeì (高其佩) (1660-1734) was born in Jiangxi to a family with Manchurian connections. He had success as an official in southern China, but is best known today as a painter. He initially gained reputation as an artist who did landscapes and figures in traditional style. By age twenty he became known as an eccentric who preferred using his fingers instead of a brush. This style had precedents as Zhang Zhao also preferred finger painting, but Gāo Qípeì went further. He grew his fingernails long to make them more effect instruments and used his entire hand to create a highly individualized style.

[edit] Sources

• Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford(51) Oxford ISBN 1-85444-132-9
• Rijksmuseum
• Cornell Museum handbook on him