Gao Qipei

Hanging scroll painting by Gao Qipei: "Finger Painting of Eagle and Pine Trees". On display at the Shanghai Museum.

Gāo Qípeì (高其佩; 1660-1734) was born in Jiangxi to a family of Manchu ethnicity. 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 effective instruments, and used his entire hand to create a highly individualized style.

Sources

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