ZAO WOU-KI (1920-2013)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : China Modern China Abstract art II
Chronology : 1956 1959 1966 1980-1989 1985 1988
See also : China Modern China Abstract art II
Chronology : 1956 1959 1966 1980-1989 1985 1988
Intro
Appealed by abstract art, Zao Wou-Ki begins by expressing the confrontations of colors in the nature. He adds accumulations of illegible calligraphic signs that stage a contribution from the Chinese civilization. Vert émeraude, painted in 1950, is one of the earliest examples of this duality. This 127 x 127 cm oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 90M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2016.
The artist hesitates for a few further years between abstraction and a very stylized figuration. At the end of 1954, his inspiration becomes cosmic, with centers of very dense forces that release centrifugal debris into a very colorful sky. Completed in January 1955, Paysage dans la Lune is a revealing title : Earth is no longer enough for Zao. This 117 x 88 cm oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 47M including premium by Sotheby's on October 2, 2016.
The centering of the energies comes soon to replace the volcanic composition of the previous example. Ailleurs depicts three centers of forces of equal size but unequal densities, one above the other on a vertical axis. This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas painted in 1955 was sold for HK $ 52M including premium by Phillips on May 26, 2019.
On September 21, 2019, Christie's sold for RMB 56M Voie Lactée, oil on canvas 162 x 114 cm dated 9.11.1956, lot 307. This opus is an encounter between night and day : the Milky Way composed of a myriad of pseudo-calligraphic centrifugal signs is encircled by the day sky in an elegant mingling of lilac, azure, aquamarine and turquoise.
This gradual approach to cosmos and eternity, sustained as in a watermark by the traditional Chinese culture, culminates with Et la Terre était sans forme. This oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm completed in 1957 just before the break with Lan Lan was sold for HK $ 183M by Poly on March 29, 2018.
The artist hesitates for a few further years between abstraction and a very stylized figuration. At the end of 1954, his inspiration becomes cosmic, with centers of very dense forces that release centrifugal debris into a very colorful sky. Completed in January 1955, Paysage dans la Lune is a revealing title : Earth is no longer enough for Zao. This 117 x 88 cm oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 47M including premium by Sotheby's on October 2, 2016.
The centering of the energies comes soon to replace the volcanic composition of the previous example. Ailleurs depicts three centers of forces of equal size but unequal densities, one above the other on a vertical axis. This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas painted in 1955 was sold for HK $ 52M including premium by Phillips on May 26, 2019.
On September 21, 2019, Christie's sold for RMB 56M Voie Lactée, oil on canvas 162 x 114 cm dated 9.11.1956, lot 307. This opus is an encounter between night and day : the Milky Way composed of a myriad of pseudo-calligraphic centrifugal signs is encircled by the day sky in an elegant mingling of lilac, azure, aquamarine and turquoise.
This gradual approach to cosmos and eternity, sustained as in a watermark by the traditional Chinese culture, culminates with Et la Terre était sans forme. This oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm completed in 1957 just before the break with Lan Lan was sold for HK $ 183M by Poly on March 29, 2018.
1956-1957 Et la Terre était sans Forme
2018 SOLD for HK$ 183M by Poly
By his abstract art of the mid-1950s Zao Wou-Ki expresses specific feelings detached from a figurative support and gives the key in his short titles. He sees the wind, the night, the dawn, the pond, the dust, the lightning.
He works in Paris but is increasingly nostalgic with his Chinese origins. He is tempted by the synthesis of the mystical beliefs of East and West. An oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm titled Et la Terre était sans forme, dated 1956-1957, is the culmination of this creative impulse.
The title in French is therefore associated with the West and paraphrases the second verse of Genesis just before the appearance of light. In this phase the Earth is uninhabited but cannot be empty. Its creation is an explosion of colors.
The primordial world of Yin and Yang is another interpretation of the creation of forms. Since 1954 Zao was sprinkling his works with an illegible calligraphy inspired from the Oracle Bones, these earliest witnesses of Chinese paleo-scripture which were undoubtedly an attempt at communication with the heavens and anticipated the symbols on the Shang ritual bronzes. The well-centered fireball of Et la Terre était sans forme is patterned with the Oracle bones signature signs of the artist but they are too small and too tight to invite for an understanding in the modern world.
This painting was sold for HK $ 29.4M by Christie's on November 25, 2007 and for HK $ 183M from a lower estimate of HK $ 90M by Poly on March 29, 2018, lot 164. Please watch the video shared by Poly HK.
The mystical crescendo of Zao Wou-Ki is halted by his break in early 1957 with his wife Lan Lan. The hypersensitive artist is in shock. He leaves for a long stay with his brother near New York City where he discovers the spontaneity of abstract expressionism. A new phase of total abstraction will begin.
He works in Paris but is increasingly nostalgic with his Chinese origins. He is tempted by the synthesis of the mystical beliefs of East and West. An oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm titled Et la Terre était sans forme, dated 1956-1957, is the culmination of this creative impulse.
The title in French is therefore associated with the West and paraphrases the second verse of Genesis just before the appearance of light. In this phase the Earth is uninhabited but cannot be empty. Its creation is an explosion of colors.
The primordial world of Yin and Yang is another interpretation of the creation of forms. Since 1954 Zao was sprinkling his works with an illegible calligraphy inspired from the Oracle Bones, these earliest witnesses of Chinese paleo-scripture which were undoubtedly an attempt at communication with the heavens and anticipated the symbols on the Shang ritual bronzes. The well-centered fireball of Et la Terre était sans forme is patterned with the Oracle bones signature signs of the artist but they are too small and too tight to invite for an understanding in the modern world.
This painting was sold for HK $ 29.4M by Christie's on November 25, 2007 and for HK $ 183M from a lower estimate of HK $ 90M by Poly on March 29, 2018, lot 164. Please watch the video shared by Poly HK.
The mystical crescendo of Zao Wou-Ki is halted by his break in early 1957 with his wife Lan Lan. The hypersensitive artist is in shock. He leaves for a long stay with his brother near New York City where he discovers the spontaneity of abstract expressionism. A new phase of total abstraction will begin.
1958 Untitled
2019 SOLD for HK$ 116M by Sotheby's
Born in a very ancient Chinese family, Zao Wou-Ki's father was a great connoisseur of art and calligraphy. Owning a painting by Mi Fu, he had also been one of the earliest collectors of Oracle bones just after their characterization as a primordial form of writing.
In France in the 1950s, Zao soon renounces figurative art and expresses feelings, nature and seasons by harmonies of colors. The originality of his art in comparison with the expressionists is to apply to oil on canvas the techniques and wrist movements of Chinese calligraphy.
From 1955 Zao regularly overpaints his colors with a pseudo-writing, most often without any similarity with the antique or modern pictographs, thus adding a dimension of mystery to his expressions of the forces of nature and the creation of the universe. These paintings are identified as the series of the Oracle Bones.
Zao was deeply shocked by his divorce in early 1957. The oil on canvas titled Nous Deux, 161 x 200 cm, called for the dawn of his second career in a world inhabited by strange and indecipherable calligraphic signs. Nous Deux was sold for HK $ 35M by Christie's on May 24, 2009.
His visit to the United States in 1957 after his break with his wife does not interrupt this trend but considerably increases his international notoriety. After meeting with American abstract painters, he appreciates that a work of art does not need a title to convey a feeling.
Abstraction is an oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm painted in 1958. This explosion of glowing fire is like the origin of the world in a dark environment. The fake calligrams from Nous Deux become smoky ashes floating in front of the bright colors. It was sold for RMB 90M by Sotheby's on December 1, 2013, lot 34.
The untitled Oracle Bones painted in 1958 offer a great diversity of expression. An oil on canvas 114 x 163 cm painted in that year appears as an antithesis to the example above. The sweetness of the background painted in cream white enhanced with light brown and jade green brings a peaceful atmosphere accentuated by the calligraphic sharpness of the large central pseudo-writing.
It was sold for HK $ 116M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M by Sotheby's on March 31 2019, lot 1026. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In France in the 1950s, Zao soon renounces figurative art and expresses feelings, nature and seasons by harmonies of colors. The originality of his art in comparison with the expressionists is to apply to oil on canvas the techniques and wrist movements of Chinese calligraphy.
From 1955 Zao regularly overpaints his colors with a pseudo-writing, most often without any similarity with the antique or modern pictographs, thus adding a dimension of mystery to his expressions of the forces of nature and the creation of the universe. These paintings are identified as the series of the Oracle Bones.
Zao was deeply shocked by his divorce in early 1957. The oil on canvas titled Nous Deux, 161 x 200 cm, called for the dawn of his second career in a world inhabited by strange and indecipherable calligraphic signs. Nous Deux was sold for HK $ 35M by Christie's on May 24, 2009.
His visit to the United States in 1957 after his break with his wife does not interrupt this trend but considerably increases his international notoriety. After meeting with American abstract painters, he appreciates that a work of art does not need a title to convey a feeling.
Abstraction is an oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm painted in 1958. This explosion of glowing fire is like the origin of the world in a dark environment. The fake calligrams from Nous Deux become smoky ashes floating in front of the bright colors. It was sold for RMB 90M by Sotheby's on December 1, 2013, lot 34.
The untitled Oracle Bones painted in 1958 offer a great diversity of expression. An oil on canvas 114 x 163 cm painted in that year appears as an antithesis to the example above. The sweetness of the background painted in cream white enhanced with light brown and jade green brings a peaceful atmosphere accentuated by the calligraphic sharpness of the large central pseudo-writing.
It was sold for HK $ 116M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M by Sotheby's on March 31 2019, lot 1026. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1959 14.12.59
2018 SOLD for HK$ 177M by Christie's
From the moment when Zao Wou-Ki deliberately chooses abstraction, his art becomes a mystical quest, tirelessly, imperturbably, in a continuity that is barely affected by the great drama of his life, the departure of his first wife.
The first phase of the Oracle bones culminates in early 1957 with a painting titled according to the second verse of Genesis : Et la Terre était sans forme. The primordial chaos is dotted with fragments that announce the Chinese paleography. This oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm was sold for HK $ 183M by Poly in 2018.
He then calms his grief by a long journey during which he meets the American abstract expressionists. When he returns, the pre-eminence of the pseudo-writing disappears. Zao is now looking for the creation of light, the third verse of Genesis, certainly easier to conceptualize visually.
On an oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm painted in 1958, the night is pierced by fire. The title, Abstraction, is significant of the uselessness of words to accompany an artwork. It is indeed one of the ultimate opus to which the artist wanted to attribute a descriptive title. Abstraction was sold for RMB 90M by Sotheby's on December 1, 2013, lot 34.
Two paintings made in 1959 in the same dimensions as the example above bring the birth of dawn.
The earlier, 21.04.59, shows a landscape scarcely visible in the dim light. All along the horizon, under the black sky, the dazzling white light of the primordial dawn is partially hidden behind volcanic projections accompanied by some amalgamated residues of the paleography. This opus was sold for HK $ 105M from a lower estimate of HK $ 75M by Sotheby's on October 5, lot 1021.
14.12.59 is a composition of similar inspiration except that the blinding light has taken the form of a central ball and the sky is a glowing red. This opus was sold for HK $ 177M by Christie's on May 26, 2018 from a lower estimate of HK $ 68M, lot 23.
The first phase of the Oracle bones culminates in early 1957 with a painting titled according to the second verse of Genesis : Et la Terre était sans forme. The primordial chaos is dotted with fragments that announce the Chinese paleography. This oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm was sold for HK $ 183M by Poly in 2018.
He then calms his grief by a long journey during which he meets the American abstract expressionists. When he returns, the pre-eminence of the pseudo-writing disappears. Zao is now looking for the creation of light, the third verse of Genesis, certainly easier to conceptualize visually.
On an oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm painted in 1958, the night is pierced by fire. The title, Abstraction, is significant of the uselessness of words to accompany an artwork. It is indeed one of the ultimate opus to which the artist wanted to attribute a descriptive title. Abstraction was sold for RMB 90M by Sotheby's on December 1, 2013, lot 34.
Two paintings made in 1959 in the same dimensions as the example above bring the birth of dawn.
The earlier, 21.04.59, shows a landscape scarcely visible in the dim light. All along the horizon, under the black sky, the dazzling white light of the primordial dawn is partially hidden behind volcanic projections accompanied by some amalgamated residues of the paleography. This opus was sold for HK $ 105M from a lower estimate of HK $ 75M by Sotheby's on October 5, lot 1021.
14.12.59 is a composition of similar inspiration except that the blinding light has taken the form of a central ball and the sky is a glowing red. This opus was sold for HK $ 177M by Christie's on May 26, 2018 from a lower estimate of HK $ 68M, lot 23.
1960 20.03.60
2020 SOLD for HK$ 115M by Sotheby's
At the end of the 1950s Zao Wou-Ki visited New York. His dealer Samuel Kootz, who also represented Pierre Soulages, introduced him to the artists of abstract expressionism. His creativity then changed considerably.
Previously Zao wanted to represent the mystical origin of the world by supplementing his paintings with pseudo-calligraphic inscriptions, often centrifugal, which evoke the oldest remains of Chinese culture. This style is identified as the Oracle Bone period.
Zao intelligently understands that his Oracle Bones cannot build a universal art. His new Hurricane series offers an unprecedented synthesis of abstract expressionism and action painting, on large canvases that facilitate the amplitude and the violence of the gesture.
The transition was not instantaneous. 14.12.59, 130 x 162 cm, sold for HK $ 177M by Christie's in 2018, is one of the ultimate masterpieces from the first Oracle Bones. The examples below are Hurricanes.
In a vertical format, 3.4.60-1.2.69 evokes an endless swirl. This oil on canvas 195 x 130 cm was sold for HK $ 71M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. Also vertical, 12.15.60 preserves some traces of oracles. This oil on canvas 130 x 96 cm was sold for HK $ 49M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018.
On July 8, 2020, Sotheby's listed two Hurricanes, in horizontal formats that anticipate the abstract panoramas of the next phase, from 1963 to 1966. With a dominant intense blue, 19.11.59, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm, was sold for HK $ 110M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 1018. With the colors of fire, 20.03.60, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, was sold for HK $ 115M from a lower estimate of HK $ 65M, lot 1017.
Previously Zao wanted to represent the mystical origin of the world by supplementing his paintings with pseudo-calligraphic inscriptions, often centrifugal, which evoke the oldest remains of Chinese culture. This style is identified as the Oracle Bone period.
Zao intelligently understands that his Oracle Bones cannot build a universal art. His new Hurricane series offers an unprecedented synthesis of abstract expressionism and action painting, on large canvases that facilitate the amplitude and the violence of the gesture.
The transition was not instantaneous. 14.12.59, 130 x 162 cm, sold for HK $ 177M by Christie's in 2018, is one of the ultimate masterpieces from the first Oracle Bones. The examples below are Hurricanes.
In a vertical format, 3.4.60-1.2.69 evokes an endless swirl. This oil on canvas 195 x 130 cm was sold for HK $ 71M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. Also vertical, 12.15.60 preserves some traces of oracles. This oil on canvas 130 x 96 cm was sold for HK $ 49M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018.
On July 8, 2020, Sotheby's listed two Hurricanes, in horizontal formats that anticipate the abstract panoramas of the next phase, from 1963 to 1966. With a dominant intense blue, 19.11.59, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm, was sold for HK $ 110M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 1018. With the colors of fire, 20.03.60, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, was sold for HK $ 115M from a lower estimate of HK $ 65M, lot 1017.
1962 13.02.62
2021 SOLD for HK$ 163M by Sotheby's
In 1962 Zao Wou-Ki is happy. He is madly in love with his second wife, the young and charming May, who understands his art and encourages him.
On April 18, 2021, Sotheby's sold 13.2.62, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, for HK $ 163M from a lower estimate of HK $ 100M, lot 1021. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The date of this work is doubly auspicious. On the one hand February 13 is the eve of Valentine's Day. On the other hand, the artist maintained doubts about the real date of his birth 42 years earlier, a February 1st or a 13th. This curiosity has not been explained but corresponds almost exactly to the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, which his parents could not ignore less than three years after the October Revolution.
13.2.62 is a synthesis of his two most recent styles. It contains pseudo-calligraphy like the Oracle Bones, in a horizontal composition like the Hurricanes.
It is divided into three registers, the arrangement of which evokes Rothko. The upper part is bright red, the color of the best auspices and of the greatest energy. The two lower registers are silvery white. Pseudo-calligraphies are not centrifugal but ascending, which is another mark of energy. They take off on the boundary between the white sections.
On April 18, 2021, Sotheby's sold 13.2.62, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, for HK $ 163M from a lower estimate of HK $ 100M, lot 1021. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The date of this work is doubly auspicious. On the one hand February 13 is the eve of Valentine's Day. On the other hand, the artist maintained doubts about the real date of his birth 42 years earlier, a February 1st or a 13th. This curiosity has not been explained but corresponds almost exactly to the discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, which his parents could not ignore less than three years after the October Revolution.
13.2.62 is a synthesis of his two most recent styles. It contains pseudo-calligraphy like the Oracle Bones, in a horizontal composition like the Hurricanes.
It is divided into three registers, the arrangement of which evokes Rothko. The upper part is bright red, the color of the best auspices and of the greatest energy. The two lower registers are silvery white. Pseudo-calligraphies are not centrifugal but ascending, which is another mark of energy. They take off on the boundary between the white sections.
1964 29.01.64
2017 SOLD for HK$ 203M by Christie's
Zao Wou-Ki is passionate about art since childhood. His grandfather teaches him calligraphy. Later in Europe he often uses that specifically Chinese philosophy in his abstract art.
Calligraphy is a visual art with its five shades of ink. Like Western graphology it reveals the behavior and energy of the writer. The emperors used huge autograph characters to convey to the court their moral precepts as the Sons of Heaven.
At first Zao's message is primarily visual. When he incorporates lines in his abstract theme of natural forces, they do not constitute words. The synthesis will come later : in 1957 he integrates into his works some paleo-writing elements from the oracle bones.
Zao is attentive to anything that can exacerbate his exceptional energy. His visits to New York teach him to leave freedom to the movement of the hand, which does not exclude a repetition of the gesture to achieve an unlimited entanglement of colors. He also cancels any reluctance to monumentality despite the material difficulties for its implementation, as Rothko had done ten years earlier.
His abstract landscapes become gorgeous. 09.01.63 was sold for HK $ 76M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2017. 29.09.64 was sold for HK $ 280M by Christie's on May 26, 2022.
Painted in the mean time, 29.01.64, oil on canvas 260 x 200 cm, retrieves altogether the vertical format and the memory of the imperial calligraphy. A kaleidoscopic landscape is masked by a gigantic sign with complex lines in which Chinese readers globally recognize the character meaning love or longevity. Westerners may instead see a big tree in the storm.
29.01.64 was sold for HK $ 203M from a lower estimate of HK $ 85M by Christie's on November 25, 2017, lot 24. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Calligraphy is a visual art with its five shades of ink. Like Western graphology it reveals the behavior and energy of the writer. The emperors used huge autograph characters to convey to the court their moral precepts as the Sons of Heaven.
At first Zao's message is primarily visual. When he incorporates lines in his abstract theme of natural forces, they do not constitute words. The synthesis will come later : in 1957 he integrates into his works some paleo-writing elements from the oracle bones.
Zao is attentive to anything that can exacerbate his exceptional energy. His visits to New York teach him to leave freedom to the movement of the hand, which does not exclude a repetition of the gesture to achieve an unlimited entanglement of colors. He also cancels any reluctance to monumentality despite the material difficulties for its implementation, as Rothko had done ten years earlier.
His abstract landscapes become gorgeous. 09.01.63 was sold for HK $ 76M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2017. 29.09.64 was sold for HK $ 280M by Christie's on May 26, 2022.
Painted in the mean time, 29.01.64, oil on canvas 260 x 200 cm, retrieves altogether the vertical format and the memory of the imperial calligraphy. A kaleidoscopic landscape is masked by a gigantic sign with complex lines in which Chinese readers globally recognize the character meaning love or longevity. Westerners may instead see a big tree in the storm.
29.01.64 was sold for HK $ 203M from a lower estimate of HK $ 85M by Christie's on November 25, 2017, lot 24. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1964 29.09.64
2022 SOLD for HK$ 280M by Christie's
Zao Wou-Ki reaches a new level of his maturity in the early 1960s. His intense art no longer needs references to other artists. Alone in his studio he lets his inner tensions explode at full speed. He had learned from the abstract expressionists of New York the advantage of the large formats with which the artist increases the amplitude and the speed of the movement.
His vast and tormented landscapes with a perspective and a horizon in fact come exclusively from his subconscious. His fire based planet is composed of incandescent whirls and of lava flows.
29.9.64 is his largest format on its date, originally 255 x 345 cm later reduced to 230 x 345 cm under the supervision of the artist. The dominant darkness is embellished with saturated blue fighting with bright white in the foreground and an orange center.
The large surface allows a multitude of minute details that constitute together the sumptuous balance of the universe while resorting to the widest variety of techniques : impasto, transparent layers, drips, splashes and pseudo-calligraphy.
Two weeks later the Hommage à Edgar Varèse executed in the same original size confirms a key to the creativity of Zao at that time. He was passionate about contemporary music and a great friend of Varèse. The musician knew how to place silences in the midst of the noise just like the tumultuous landscapes of the artist include quiet details.
29.9.64 was sold by Christie's for HK $ 153M on May 27, 2017, lot 4. and for HK $ 280M on May 26, 2022, lot 15.
His vast and tormented landscapes with a perspective and a horizon in fact come exclusively from his subconscious. His fire based planet is composed of incandescent whirls and of lava flows.
29.9.64 is his largest format on its date, originally 255 x 345 cm later reduced to 230 x 345 cm under the supervision of the artist. The dominant darkness is embellished with saturated blue fighting with bright white in the foreground and an orange center.
The large surface allows a multitude of minute details that constitute together the sumptuous balance of the universe while resorting to the widest variety of techniques : impasto, transparent layers, drips, splashes and pseudo-calligraphy.
Two weeks later the Hommage à Edgar Varèse executed in the same original size confirms a key to the creativity of Zao at that time. He was passionate about contemporary music and a great friend of Varèse. The musician knew how to place silences in the midst of the noise just like the tumultuous landscapes of the artist include quiet details.
29.9.64 was sold by Christie's for HK $ 153M on May 27, 2017, lot 4. and for HK $ 280M on May 26, 2022, lot 15.
1966 18.11.66
2020 SOLD for HK$ 114M by Christie's
After the great volcanic panoramas of the early 1960s, Zao Wou-Ki tries new confrontations of colors. The harmony of hues is positioned in front of a background of a very saturated color and the abstraction becomes total. The illegible black signs continue to sprinkle some of these compositions, inviting an empathy with the artist by the appreciation of the movement of the wrist, as in Chinese calligraphy.
On a red background, 16.5.66, 195 x 130 cm, was sold for HK $ 80M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. On a yellow background, 17.7.67, 130 x 96 cm, was sold for HK $ 40M by Sotheby's on April 2, 2017.
10.1.68, 82 x 117 cm, was sold for HK $ 69M by Sotheby's on November 24, 2018, lot 133. A cohort of sky blue clouds pass over the bright orange background, leaving a few gaps and giving rise to small green areas in places.
18.11.66, oil on canvas 97 x 195 cm, was sold for HK $ 114M from a lower estimate of HK $ 68M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 127.
The panoramic format is rare for the artist in that period but the composition is nevertheless totally abstract. An intricate network of tiny lines within a wide range of rare shades expresses altogether the tumultuous energy of the universe and the intense emotion of Zao facing the illness of his wife May. A large bright white surface in the bottom right brought a release to the tension of the artist.
On a red background, 16.5.66, 195 x 130 cm, was sold for HK $ 80M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. On a yellow background, 17.7.67, 130 x 96 cm, was sold for HK $ 40M by Sotheby's on April 2, 2017.
10.1.68, 82 x 117 cm, was sold for HK $ 69M by Sotheby's on November 24, 2018, lot 133. A cohort of sky blue clouds pass over the bright orange background, leaving a few gaps and giving rise to small green areas in places.
18.11.66, oil on canvas 97 x 195 cm, was sold for HK $ 114M from a lower estimate of HK $ 68M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 127.
The panoramic format is rare for the artist in that period but the composition is nevertheless totally abstract. An intricate network of tiny lines within a wide range of rare shades expresses altogether the tumultuous energy of the universe and the intense emotion of Zao facing the illness of his wife May. A large bright white surface in the bottom right brought a release to the tension of the artist.
1985 Juin-Octobre 1985
2018 SOLD for HK$ 510M by Sotheby's
The architect I.M. Pei has considerably influenced the style of the great modern cities. When his fame becomes international, he revisits his native China. In the 1970s the Far East no longer wants its urbanism to follow the West. They always desire higher, more spectacular, more functional. Pei is building an office skyscraper 198 meters high in Singapore.
Zao Wou-Ki also made his own return to his sources. In the 1980s the originality of his abstract paintings inspired by East and West met with great success in the Far East.
Pei is creating in Singapore a complex named Raffles City based on a tower and two hotels, and incorporating a shopping center and a convention center. In 1985 the project is advanced enough to anticipate the interior design. Zao is traveling in the Far East. Pei makes him visit the Raffles site and commissions him a gigantic painting for adorning the grand lobby of the main building alongside abstractions by Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland in the minimalist taste of the architect.
Back in France, Zao prepares this work with a passion comparable to Monet opening with the Grandes Décorations the ultimate phase of his career. The result is a triptych of oils on canvas, 2.80 m x 10 m overall, which is installed in 1986 as planned and will remain there until 2005. Contrary to Zao's usual practice, the title is not a mere date but a period, Juin-Octobre 1985, thus confirming the prolonged attention given by the artist in its execution.
Juin-Octobre 1985 is the most monumental artwork in Zao's entire career. According to his inspiration in that decade, it evokes the mystical unicity between nature and the infinite. The incandescent center is seen beyond a dark curtain accented by strident blue.
It was sold for HK $ 510M from an expectation beyond HK $ 350M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018, lot 1004.
Zao Wou-Ki also made his own return to his sources. In the 1980s the originality of his abstract paintings inspired by East and West met with great success in the Far East.
Pei is creating in Singapore a complex named Raffles City based on a tower and two hotels, and incorporating a shopping center and a convention center. In 1985 the project is advanced enough to anticipate the interior design. Zao is traveling in the Far East. Pei makes him visit the Raffles site and commissions him a gigantic painting for adorning the grand lobby of the main building alongside abstractions by Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland in the minimalist taste of the architect.
Back in France, Zao prepares this work with a passion comparable to Monet opening with the Grandes Décorations the ultimate phase of his career. The result is a triptych of oils on canvas, 2.80 m x 10 m overall, which is installed in 1986 as planned and will remain there until 2005. Contrary to Zao's usual practice, the title is not a mere date but a period, Juin-Octobre 1985, thus confirming the prolonged attention given by the artist in its execution.
Juin-Octobre 1985 is the most monumental artwork in Zao's entire career. According to his inspiration in that decade, it evokes the mystical unicity between nature and the infinite. The incandescent center is seen beyond a dark curtain accented by strident blue.
It was sold for HK $ 510M from an expectation beyond HK $ 350M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018, lot 1004.
1988 Triptyque 1987-1988
2019 SOLD for HK$ 178M by Christie's
Contemporary art is a dramatic evolution toward gigantic formats. Zao Wou-Ki buys in 1977 a 15th century fortified house near Beaune-la-Rolande 100 km south of Paris. He installs his studio in an outbuilding. In this room 8 meters high, he opens windows in the attic and creates a mezzanine to check the effect of his work.
These new conditions are a challenge that delights the artist. The coverage of the whole space becomes a gradual exercise in which planning and instinct are competing. It is in this quiet shelter that the artist paints his large triptychs of the 1980s. The man is welcomed by his neighbors for his courtesy but they do not know about his industry. He keeps in parallel his Parisian workshop.
The most monumental work, made for Singapore, is titled and dated Juin-Octobre 1985. This triptych 2.80 x 10 m overall was sold for HK $ 510M by Sotheby's in 2018.
On May 25, 2019, Christie's sold for HK $ 178M from a lower estimate of HK $ 120M an oil on canvas 200 x 486 cm titled Triptyque 1987-1988, lot 38. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
This triptych completed in 1988 is conceived as a tribute to Monet and Matisse, more precisely to the harmonious blend of colors and lights of the Grandes Décorations and to the Collioure window that opens onto the landscape like a stage curtain. Zao associates with this European acknowledgement his Chinese sensibility, in a composition where the absence of perspective is a way to evoke the infinity of the world.
These new conditions are a challenge that delights the artist. The coverage of the whole space becomes a gradual exercise in which planning and instinct are competing. It is in this quiet shelter that the artist paints his large triptychs of the 1980s. The man is welcomed by his neighbors for his courtesy but they do not know about his industry. He keeps in parallel his Parisian workshop.
The most monumental work, made for Singapore, is titled and dated Juin-Octobre 1985. This triptych 2.80 x 10 m overall was sold for HK $ 510M by Sotheby's in 2018.
On May 25, 2019, Christie's sold for HK $ 178M from a lower estimate of HK $ 120M an oil on canvas 200 x 486 cm titled Triptyque 1987-1988, lot 38. Please watch the video prepared by the auction house.
This triptych completed in 1988 is conceived as a tribute to Monet and Matisse, more precisely to the harmonious blend of colors and lights of the Grandes Décorations and to the Collioure window that opens onto the landscape like a stage curtain. Zao associates with this European acknowledgement his Chinese sensibility, in a composition where the absence of perspective is a way to evoke the infinity of the world.
masterpiece
1991 Hommage à Claude Monet
private collection
Zao Wou-Ki had a lifelong quest for infinity represented by the asters in the sky. Pierre Matisse, his New York dealer and agent in the 1980s, managed to inspire him also from his figurative predecessors at the border of abstraction.
While his own work remained abstract, he introduced arched framings in front of his unlimited brawls of elements. In 1986 an Hommage à Henri Matisse is more precisely inspired from La Fenêtre Ouverte à Collioure. Henri Matisse was Pierre's father. His art also became brighter after he met Zhang Daqian in Taipei in 1983.
Then went Monet, both for his impressionist touch and for his theme of La Porte d'Aval in Etretat, the spectacular rocky arch that frames the view onto the Aiguille. 29.02.88, oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm, is such an acbstract arch and sky composition. It was sold for HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020, lot 1016. The monumental triptych Hommage à Claude Monet, 194 x 480 cm painted in 1991, is the culmination of that trend.
While his own work remained abstract, he introduced arched framings in front of his unlimited brawls of elements. In 1986 an Hommage à Henri Matisse is more precisely inspired from La Fenêtre Ouverte à Collioure. Henri Matisse was Pierre's father. His art also became brighter after he met Zhang Daqian in Taipei in 1983.
Then went Monet, both for his impressionist touch and for his theme of La Porte d'Aval in Etretat, the spectacular rocky arch that frames the view onto the Aiguille. 29.02.88, oil on canvas 162 x 130 cm, is such an acbstract arch and sky composition. It was sold for HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020, lot 1016. The monumental triptych Hommage à Claude Monet, 194 x 480 cm painted in 1991, is the culmination of that trend.
