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Lot Essay
Painted in 1955, Petit pont et l’eau coule (Small Bridge over the Stream) exemplifies Zao Wou-Ki’s shift from figuration to lyrical abstraction, moving beyond the flat surface to explore spatial depth and expressive gesture. It integrates traditional Chinese elements like oracle bone script and bronze motifs into a poetic visual language. Zao signed on the reverse of the subject work with a Chinese title Small Bridge and Flowing Water (小橋流水), possibly referencing the line ‘a small bridge, flowing water, and cottages’ from Autumn-Thoughts (天净沙·秋思) by Yuan dynasty poet Ma Zhiyuan. Of fewer than ten works from Zao’s Oracle-Bone Period to appear on the market in the past three years, the present work is the rare example bearing a Chinese title inscribed by the artist himself. It evokes scholarly sensibility and carries deep cultural memories that are rooted in his homeland Hangzhou.
In this work, Zao imbues the canvas with layers of poetic sentiment and emotional depth. The viewer’s gaze is drawn toward the center of the composition by the bold contrast of orange red and black palettes, the interconnected symbols resembling oracle bone script that are outlined in black, and the meditative calm of blue tones that radiate outward and gradually dissolve into the distance. Subtly woven into this lyrical abstraction are evocations of nature - the burning sun, meandering river, and the shimmering water surface. The painting evokes longing for Zao’s cultural roots and the formative years he spent in Hangzhou. Being cut off from his native land amongst a period of radical changes, Zao’s paintings quietly express the deep nostalgia and emotional ties that remained with him.
From 1954, Zao Wou-Ki shifted from figural representation to ideogram-inspired abstraction, drawing on the ancestral roots of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions and bronze vessel markings. He deconstructed these archaic characters, retaining only their formal essence to create a symbolic visual language. This marked the beginning of his ‘Oracle Bone Period’, where elemental lines conveyed spatial and temporal depth, a central theme that shaped his evolving abstract practice and laid bare the foundation for his later ‘Hurricane Period’. In the present work, he emphasized the tactile quality of line by gathering strokes into a semi-elliptical shape at the center of the canvas, reminiscent of clustered dwellings by a lakeside town. Over time, Zao developed a personal symbolic system, using signs to abstract himself from the terrestrial weight of conventional form and cultural expectation. In his practice, the external world was not something to depict, but something to absorb and transform. All that enters from the world is what comes from the self.
In this work, Zao imbues the canvas with layers of poetic sentiment and emotional depth. The viewer’s gaze is drawn toward the center of the composition by the bold contrast of orange red and black palettes, the interconnected symbols resembling oracle bone script that are outlined in black, and the meditative calm of blue tones that radiate outward and gradually dissolve into the distance. Subtly woven into this lyrical abstraction are evocations of nature - the burning sun, meandering river, and the shimmering water surface. The painting evokes longing for Zao’s cultural roots and the formative years he spent in Hangzhou. Being cut off from his native land amongst a period of radical changes, Zao’s paintings quietly express the deep nostalgia and emotional ties that remained with him.
From 1954, Zao Wou-Ki shifted from figural representation to ideogram-inspired abstraction, drawing on the ancestral roots of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions and bronze vessel markings. He deconstructed these archaic characters, retaining only their formal essence to create a symbolic visual language. This marked the beginning of his ‘Oracle Bone Period’, where elemental lines conveyed spatial and temporal depth, a central theme that shaped his evolving abstract practice and laid bare the foundation for his later ‘Hurricane Period’. In the present work, he emphasized the tactile quality of line by gathering strokes into a semi-elliptical shape at the center of the canvas, reminiscent of clustered dwellings by a lakeside town. Over time, Zao developed a personal symbolic system, using signs to abstract himself from the terrestrial weight of conventional form and cultural expectation. In his practice, the external world was not something to depict, but something to absorb and transform. All that enters from the world is what comes from the self.