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Lot Essay
"A good landscape painting is not just a demonstration of competent application of paint. It must offer a feeling of homage to the subject." -Keith Shackleton
1948 was the year when Zao Wou-Ki and his wife Xie Jinglan boarded Andre Lebon. Having set their eyes on Paris, they embarked on a voyage that took them across the waters as they prepare for a fresh start in a foreign land. Upon their arrival, Zao was determined to move away from being hailed as a "Chinese artist"; first by studying the French language and to educate himself further on Western art.
With the end of World War II, Paris was steadily recovering from the fragments of war. It wasn't long after when the city was once again attracting young artists to assemble in this cultural melting pot. During which Zao would encounter fellow artists like Alberto Giacometti, Pierre Soulages, Hans Hartung and many others. In contrast to his contemporaries who focused primarily on abstraction, Zao remained true to his roots in the pursuit of creating a pictorial language that bridges Eastern and Western aesthetics. Part of his quest in pursuit of inspiration, Zao travelled around Europe to gain exposure on Western art, history, architecture and culture. In the course of his travels, he experimented on new form of lines and perspective which eventually led to a breakthrough in his artistic style.
Created between 1949-1953, San Titre, 14.09.50 & Chemin d'ombre are three exemplary works that encapsulates Zao Wou-Ki's artistic evolution during his early days in Paris. Stylistically, his subjects are becoming more generalized and abstract, as images and motifs are simplified into the pure motion of line. The primary focus is on the rhythm of curving lines and the way they build space, and on exploring the energies of those lines, the hidden dynamics of form within them, and their emotional import. Following the rhythmic movement of the lines, the viewer senses the motion of the painter's brush, the pulse of his imagination. The strongly expressionistic and abstract elements of the work form a link to Zao Wou-ki's later abstract nature paintings.
Painted in 1949, shortly after his arrival in France, San Titre could be interpreted as Zao's homage to home. In the foreground depicts a quiet town surrounded by lush greenery, the skyscape is covered indreamy pastel colours swirling across the sky. The luminous red sunsets high above the town, radiating as if hope was present within the painterly landscape. An emotion relatable to Zao who was stilladapting to his life in France. The depiction of the French countryside is almost reminiscent to his earlier landscape paintings from China, echoing his nostalgia for home while seeking solace in art. San Titre evokes a sense of serenity, far from the hustle and bustle of Parisian life – in like manner of the Impressionist. Rejecting the rise of industrialization in Paris, some impressionist like Cezanne opted to stay in the countryside, observing nature and practice en plein air. Brushstroke by brushstroke, these artists captured fleeting moments and pictorializing them in art that embraced a sense of form and space, such concept is comparable to the present lot. Illustrated poetically, Zao framed the landscape with rapid brushstrokes of pink and green dashes, subtly opening up a new pictorial space within the work and providing a fresh perspective for viewers, mimicking the concept of peeking into a staged landscape.
"For French people to witness these young foreign artists arriving in Paris in 1949 with an attitude of arriving in the world's capital, arriving at the laboratories and the palaces of modern art, is not only gratifying but also inspiring. The most beautiful part of it is that they accept French influence while retaining their own identities, and in many cases, they become even more assertive as inheritors of the culture of their homelands ... for a century, this has been the case for thousands of artists, and Zao Wou-Ki is no exception." - Bernard Dorival, Director of Musee Nationale d'Art Moderne, Paris
1948 was the year when Zao Wou-Ki and his wife Xie Jinglan boarded Andre Lebon. Having set their eyes on Paris, they embarked on a voyage that took them across the waters as they prepare for a fresh start in a foreign land. Upon their arrival, Zao was determined to move away from being hailed as a "Chinese artist"; first by studying the French language and to educate himself further on Western art.
With the end of World War II, Paris was steadily recovering from the fragments of war. It wasn't long after when the city was once again attracting young artists to assemble in this cultural melting pot. During which Zao would encounter fellow artists like Alberto Giacometti, Pierre Soulages, Hans Hartung and many others. In contrast to his contemporaries who focused primarily on abstraction, Zao remained true to his roots in the pursuit of creating a pictorial language that bridges Eastern and Western aesthetics. Part of his quest in pursuit of inspiration, Zao travelled around Europe to gain exposure on Western art, history, architecture and culture. In the course of his travels, he experimented on new form of lines and perspective which eventually led to a breakthrough in his artistic style.
Created between 1949-1953, San Titre, 14.09.50 & Chemin d'ombre are three exemplary works that encapsulates Zao Wou-Ki's artistic evolution during his early days in Paris. Stylistically, his subjects are becoming more generalized and abstract, as images and motifs are simplified into the pure motion of line. The primary focus is on the rhythm of curving lines and the way they build space, and on exploring the energies of those lines, the hidden dynamics of form within them, and their emotional import. Following the rhythmic movement of the lines, the viewer senses the motion of the painter's brush, the pulse of his imagination. The strongly expressionistic and abstract elements of the work form a link to Zao Wou-ki's later abstract nature paintings.
Painted in 1949, shortly after his arrival in France, San Titre could be interpreted as Zao's homage to home. In the foreground depicts a quiet town surrounded by lush greenery, the skyscape is covered indreamy pastel colours swirling across the sky. The luminous red sunsets high above the town, radiating as if hope was present within the painterly landscape. An emotion relatable to Zao who was stilladapting to his life in France. The depiction of the French countryside is almost reminiscent to his earlier landscape paintings from China, echoing his nostalgia for home while seeking solace in art. San Titre evokes a sense of serenity, far from the hustle and bustle of Parisian life – in like manner of the Impressionist. Rejecting the rise of industrialization in Paris, some impressionist like Cezanne opted to stay in the countryside, observing nature and practice en plein air. Brushstroke by brushstroke, these artists captured fleeting moments and pictorializing them in art that embraced a sense of form and space, such concept is comparable to the present lot. Illustrated poetically, Zao framed the landscape with rapid brushstrokes of pink and green dashes, subtly opening up a new pictorial space within the work and providing a fresh perspective for viewers, mimicking the concept of peeking into a staged landscape.
"For French people to witness these young foreign artists arriving in Paris in 1949 with an attitude of arriving in the world's capital, arriving at the laboratories and the palaces of modern art, is not only gratifying but also inspiring. The most beautiful part of it is that they accept French influence while retaining their own identities, and in many cases, they become even more assertive as inheritors of the culture of their homelands ... for a century, this has been the case for thousands of artists, and Zao Wou-Ki is no exception." - Bernard Dorival, Director of Musee Nationale d'Art Moderne, Paris