Zao Wou-Ki (1920 - 2013)
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Zao Wou-Ki was born in Beijing, China on February 13, 1920 to a wealthy family descended from the Song Dynasty. When Wou-Ki was of age, his father could afford to send him to a respected art school. He followed in the footsteps of the previous generation of Chinese artists that began to travel West for training and inspiration. French-educated Chinese artist Lin Fengmian was his teacher at the Hangzhou National College of Art (known today as the China Academy of Art) from 1935-1941 and encouraged him to study abroad in Paris. Wou-Ki made the move in 1948 (with a substantial amount of financial backing) and later adopted France as his new home, remaining in the country, besides a few short trips abroad, until his death. Shortly after Wou-Ki’s departure, China’s political situation became volatile due to the Communist takeover, making any return attempt difficult and dangerous. His signature is a symbol of his unique cultural identity, as his first name is written with Chinese characters and his last name in a Western orthography. France, especially the doors of the Louvre, welcomed him with open arms. His first day in France consisted of spending the day admiring the originals of works he had only seen in print. In Paris, Wou-Ki quickly joined a large postwar French art circle, comprised of key writers, poets, painters, and cultural figures including Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Riopelle, Vieira da Silva, amongst others. This networking helped position himself at the top of the Lyrical Abstraction movement. Although he was now a part of a larger group, he worked tirelessly to break stereotypes associated with traditional Chinese painting and earn respect for his own unique multicultural identity and “voice”.
By his mid-thirties, Wou-Ki had decided to devote his artistic career to abstract painting that blended Eastern and Western stylistic traditions. His rare ability to blend cultures—particularly those of China and France—appealed to populations in the United States, Europe, and Asia and led to unprecedented commercial success. His name “Wou-Ki”, translated to English means “no boundaries”. True to his name, the popularity of his artwork crossed continents and broke barriers. Wou-Ki is considered one, if not the most, important Chinese modernist painters of the 20th century. He was influenced by the movements of Abstract Expressionism and Impressionism and the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Cézanne.
His first completely abstract work and breakthrough piece was Wind (1954). Although abstract, it included black ink and ancient oracle bone lettering—elements from the art of his birth country. Wou-Ki focused on abstract painting for the remainder of his career. Qualities notable to Wou-Ki’s works include varying planes of color, intersections of light and shade, collision and divergence, and lyricism. After committing to abstraction, the descriptive titles of his works were replaced with numbers signifying dates of completion, such as 18.09.2001 (oil on canvas) and 01.04.66 (oil on canvas). Wou-Ki believed that painting expressed the thoughts that people struggle to verbalize. Furthermore, with his French-Chinese identity, he explained, “French thought and Chinese thought are not the same…It's hard to translate between them…Painting must express these feelings.” New York Times writer John Russell positively reviewed Wou-Ki’s art in 1986 stating that the artist has a “rare gift for metamorphosis” and that his paintings “take us to a space not yet defined but in abeyance, hesitant, hovering one last moment before plummeting into what later will be order.” Former French president and Asian-art collector, Jacques Chirac, took a similar liking to Wou-Ki’s paintings. Chirac befriended Wou-Ki and helped him prepare for his first major Chinese retrospective, in Shanghai in 1998, by writing the preface to the catalogue of his works for the show.
Wou-Ki was a highly decorated painter. His list of honors includes: Grand Officier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur, decorated by the French President, Jacques Chirac, in 2006; election to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France (2002); Praemium Imperiale Award for Painting, The Japanese Art Association, Tokyo, Japan (1994); Honorary Doctorate, Chinese University, Hong Kong, China (1993); Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur, French Republic, Paris, France (1993); and Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, French Republic, Paris, France (1984). Retrospectives and exhibitions included museums in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in 1996); Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton (through 1999); Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris (2003), Nationale de France in Paris (2008), and the Suzhou Museum (2008).
Wou-Ki’s works are featured in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Guggenheim, the Tate Modern, and other national museums in major cities around the world from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro. When his total painting sales reached $90 million in 2011, he began to be referred to in art publications as “the top-selling living Chinese artist”. His painting, Abstraction, a large canvas of black, white, and orange brushstrokes, sold at Sotheby’s Beijing Art Week in 2013 for $14,718,771. On average, his works sell at auction for approximately $150K, with most of the sales taking place in France and Asia.
Wou-Ki died in Nyon, Switzerland in 2013 at the age of 93 due to complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. In his old age and deteriorating mental state he stopped producing paintings. His life philosophy was simple: “Everybody is bound by a tradition. I am bound by two.” He believed that as long as his work was a true representation of himself, no criticism would affect him.
By his mid-thirties, Wou-Ki had decided to devote his artistic career to abstract painting that blended Eastern and Western stylistic traditions. His rare ability to blend cultures—particularly those of China and France—appealed to populations in the United States, Europe, and Asia and led to unprecedented commercial success. His name “Wou-Ki”, translated to English means “no boundaries”. True to his name, the popularity of his artwork crossed continents and broke barriers. Wou-Ki is considered one, if not the most, important Chinese modernist painters of the 20th century. He was influenced by the movements of Abstract Expressionism and Impressionism and the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Cézanne.
His first completely abstract work and breakthrough piece was Wind (1954). Although abstract, it included black ink and ancient oracle bone lettering—elements from the art of his birth country. Wou-Ki focused on abstract painting for the remainder of his career. Qualities notable to Wou-Ki’s works include varying planes of color, intersections of light and shade, collision and divergence, and lyricism. After committing to abstraction, the descriptive titles of his works were replaced with numbers signifying dates of completion, such as 18.09.2001 (oil on canvas) and 01.04.66 (oil on canvas). Wou-Ki believed that painting expressed the thoughts that people struggle to verbalize. Furthermore, with his French-Chinese identity, he explained, “French thought and Chinese thought are not the same…It's hard to translate between them…Painting must express these feelings.” New York Times writer John Russell positively reviewed Wou-Ki’s art in 1986 stating that the artist has a “rare gift for metamorphosis” and that his paintings “take us to a space not yet defined but in abeyance, hesitant, hovering one last moment before plummeting into what later will be order.” Former French president and Asian-art collector, Jacques Chirac, took a similar liking to Wou-Ki’s paintings. Chirac befriended Wou-Ki and helped him prepare for his first major Chinese retrospective, in Shanghai in 1998, by writing the preface to the catalogue of his works for the show.
Wou-Ki was a highly decorated painter. His list of honors includes: Grand Officier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur, decorated by the French President, Jacques Chirac, in 2006; election to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France (2002); Praemium Imperiale Award for Painting, The Japanese Art Association, Tokyo, Japan (1994); Honorary Doctorate, Chinese University, Hong Kong, China (1993); Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur, French Republic, Paris, France (1993); and Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, French Republic, Paris, France (1984). Retrospectives and exhibitions included museums in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in 1996); Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton (through 1999); Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris (2003), Nationale de France in Paris (2008), and the Suzhou Museum (2008).
Wou-Ki’s works are featured in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Guggenheim, the Tate Modern, and other national museums in major cities around the world from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro. When his total painting sales reached $90 million in 2011, he began to be referred to in art publications as “the top-selling living Chinese artist”. His painting, Abstraction, a large canvas of black, white, and orange brushstrokes, sold at Sotheby’s Beijing Art Week in 2013 for $14,718,771. On average, his works sell at auction for approximately $150K, with most of the sales taking place in France and Asia.
Wou-Ki died in Nyon, Switzerland in 2013 at the age of 93 due to complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. In his old age and deteriorating mental state he stopped producing paintings. His life philosophy was simple: “Everybody is bound by a tradition. I am bound by two.” He believed that as long as his work was a true representation of himself, no criticism would affect him.