Zao Wou-Ki
(Peking 1920 – Nyon 2013)
Sans Titre (1974)
Signed and dated 74 lower right
Numbered 77/120 lower left
Published by De Francony, Nice, printed by Bellini, Paris
Lithograph in colours on BFK Rives paper, 61.3 x 47.8 cm (image size) / 74.6 x 53.4 cm (sheet size)
Note:
Bejing-born artist Zao Wou-Ki was one of the titans of Chinese art in the post-war period, and bridged the divide between Eastern and Western traditions.
In his art, he synthesised the tenets of modernism, calligraphy, and traditional Chinese landscape painting. He developed a unique style defined by contrasting colours, intense linework, and lyrical abstraction.
When living in Paris, Zao immersed himself in the city’s avant-garde scene and befriended artists including Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Joan Mitchell, and Sam Francis. During his lifetime, he exhibited worldwide and received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale Award for painting and the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur. Today, his work can be found in the collections of the Louvre, the Centre Pompidou, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Tate Britain, among many others.