Lotus

This painting of a dragon fly, from an album of bird-and-flower studies after earlier masters, is typical of the finger painting style of Gao Qipei. In places the finger dipped in ink is evident, in others the sharper, scratchy lines of the fingernail are apparent.Gao found the new expansive, individualistic style that had emerged around the Jiangnan region in the seventeenth century especially congenial, and by exploiting his special techniques of finger painting, he won widespread recognition for his highly expressive works of art. A Manchu by birth, Gao was one of the few foreigners in the Qing period able not only to absorb Chinese culture but to gain a measure of respect from other Chinese painters for his accomplishments.