Gao Qipei (; 1660–1734) was born in Tieling to a family of

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

ethnicity. He had success as an official in southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, but is best known today as a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He initially gained reputation as an artist who did

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

s and figures in traditional style. By age twenty, he became known as an

eccentric Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...

who preferred using his fingers instead of a

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

. This style had precedents as

Zhang Zao Zhang Zao (; December 29, 1962March 8, 2010) was one of the most important Chinese poets of the 20th century. He was considered one of the "Five Masters from Sichuan" in the 80s' Chinese poetry scene, along with other famous poets Bai Hua , Ouyang ...

also preferred finger painting, but Gao Qipei went further. He grew his fingernails long to make them more effective instruments, and used his entire hand to create a highly individualized style.

Sources

*Chinese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford(51)

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Rijksmuseum
Qing dynasty painters 1660 births 1734 deaths Painters from Jiangxi Qing dynasty government officials Han Chinese Bordered White Bannermen Han Chinese Bordered Yellow Bannermen {{China-painter-stub