Minneapolis Institute of Art

Flower-and-Bird Finger Painting from an Album of Ten Leaves

Gao Qipei

Date

1684

Medium

Ink and color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Gao Qipei was born in Jiangxi to a family of Manchu ethnicity. He was a successful official in southern China, but is best known today as a painter. He initially gained reputation painting landscapes and figures in traditional style. By age twenty, he became known as an eccentric who preferred using his fingers instead of a brush. Some earlier painters had also preferred finger painting, but Kao went further. He grew his fingernails long to make them more effect instruments, and used his entire hand in a highly individualized style. Asia

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