128. QI BAISHI (1864-1957) Amarante Ink and colour on paper, hanging scroll Inscribed and dedicated to Ambassador Trautmann, signed, with two artist's seals and one collector's seal 107.2 x 33 cm (42 1/8 x 13 in.) Provenance: Collection of Dr. Oskar Paul Trautmann (1877-1950), German Ambassador to China (1935-1938), thence in the family by descent. Published: Leopold Reidemeister, Chinesische Malerei der Gegenwart. Aus der Sammlung des Botschafters Oskar P. Trautmann, Nanking, Berlin, 1937, cat. no. 17. Leopold Reidemeister, Chinesische Malerei der Gegenwart. Aus der Sammlung des Botschafters Oskar P. Trautmann, Nanking, Krefeld, 1937, cat. no. 17. Leopold Reidemeister, Chinesische Malerei. Leihgaben aus der Ostasiatischen Kunstsammlung der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin und von Herrn Dr. O.P. Trautmann, Deutscher Botschafter in China, Breslau, Schlesisches Museum der Bildenden Künste, 1938, cat. no. 17. Exhibited: Chinesische Malerei der Gegenwart. Aus der Sammlung des Botschafters Oskar P. Trautmann, Nanking, Berlin, Prinzessinnen-Palais, May - June 1937, no. 17. Chinesische Malerei der Gegenwart. Aus der Sammlung des Botschafters Oskar P. Trautmann, Nanking, Krefeld, Friedrich Wilhelm Museum, September - October 1937, no. 17. Chinesische Malerei. Leihgaben aus der Ostasiatischen Kunstsammlung der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin und von Herrn Dr. O.P. Trautmann, Deutscher Botschafter in China, Breslau, Schlesisches Museum der Bildenden Künste, July - August 1938, no. 17. This colourful painting by Qi Baishi is dedicated to Dr. Oskar Paul Trautmann (1877-1950), German Ambassador to China in Nanjing from 1935 to 1938. It is one of the last paintings from his illustrious collection of modern Chinese paintings that has remained in the Trautmann family by direct descent. Dr. Oskar Trautmann was a German diplomat with a long and distinguished international career. After occupying consular posts in St. Petersburg, Zürich, Kobe and Tokyo, Dr. Trautmann was appointed head of the German legation in Beijing in 1931, a position he held until 1941. From 1935 and until 1938, he served as German ambassador to China in Nanjing. A pacifist, Trautmann undertook the role of counsellor and negotiator attempting to broker a peace deal between China and Japan in 1937/38. In 1938, after negotiations failed, Trautmann was asked to return to Germany. During his sojourn in China, Oskar Trautmann immersed himself in Chinese culture. He became an ardent student and passionate collector of Chinese art. At a time, when many artefacts appeared on the market in China, Trautmann began to collect archaic bronzes. Twenty examples were published in 1939 by Gustav Ecke, a German professor at Fujen Catholic University in Beijing, see Gustav Ecke, Frühe Chinesische Bronzen aus der Sammlung Oskar Trautmann, Beijing, 1939. But Trautmann's interest far exceeded early bronzes. He was interested in contemporary art, in the different artists, styles and schools of thought of early 20th century artists like Wu Changshuo, Zhang Daqian and Xu Beihong whom he befriended and whose works he greatly admired. An encounter with Yakichiro Suma (1892-1970), a Japanese diplomat and Consul General of the Japanese legation in Nanjing in 1933, led to a meeting with Qi Baishi (1867-1954). Like Suma, Oskar Trautmann befriended Qi Baishi and bought several of the artist's works, among them the present painting which Qi Baishi dedicated to his friend Oskar Trautmann. A fierce advocate for modern Chinese art, Oskar Trautmann master-minded a series of ground-breaking exhibitions of modern Chinese artists in Germany. In the 1920s and 1930s, Berlin had been an important centre for the trade and promotion of Chinese art. The 1929 exhibition of Chinese Art in Berlin had drawn international attention and Trautmann seized the opportunity to promote contemporary Chinese artists in Germany. Between 1934 and 1938, while he was officially working in Nanjing, Oskar Trautmann travelled extensively between China and Germany, organizing four important exhibitions in Frankfurt, Berlin, Krefeld and Breslau dedicated to modern Chinese artists to which he lent over one hundred paintings from his personal collection, among them this painting by Qi Baishi. Dedicated to Oskar Trautmann, this painting of amaranths is executed in a style that Qi Baishi developed in the late 1920s. Painted in a colourful, boldly rendered manner that freely traces the entwined and overlapping leaves of the amaranth branch, the composition in varying shades of red and pink contrasts with the deep black brushstrokes of the accompanying calligraphy creating a harmonious balance, a feature that was to anticipate Qi Baishi's later work.