A blooming, lively garden at his villa in Giverny, France, inspired Claude Monet to create his iconic Water Lilies series. So it was with Chinese modern ink artist Qi Baishi (1864-1957) who cultivated plants and raised small animals in his hutong, or alleyway, courtyard in Beijing.

The prosperous yet small garden not only eased homesickness when he reminisced of his earlier life in the countryside of his hometown Xiangtan, Hunan province. It also allowed him to carry out shrewd observations of the flowers, leaves, branches and insects — he would later visualize and reanimate these living creatures using paintbrushes. His vivid depictions of this natural, mundane world have remained his most popular works.

His blooming garden and pool, together with nature's creatures, are visiting the United States at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, to amuse viewers. The exhibition Qi Baishi: Inspiration in Ink displays the breadth of his artistic vision and the scope of his rich life until Sept 28.