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Lot Essay
The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by the artist.
A Frenchman, born in China, Zao Wou-Ki's identity is complex. While his paintings are sometimes reminiscent of the works of French Post-War artists such as Jean Fautrier and Henri Michaux, the voids and calligraphic build-up of oils on the canvas are evidence of his Chinese background. Zao Wou-Ki's abstract works have been inspired specifically by Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting. He ingeniously introduces elements of traditional aesthetic into his work and he is aided by the Chinese tradition in his expression of substantive subjects through abstraction. Seeing his contemporary works alongside old traditional Chinese scrolls one is immediately struck by the close aesthetic relationship between them. In 30-3-71, the mood, distance and haziness of the work take centre-stage over the subject of the painting.
A Frenchman, born in China, Zao Wou-Ki's identity is complex. While his paintings are sometimes reminiscent of the works of French Post-War artists such as Jean Fautrier and Henri Michaux, the voids and calligraphic build-up of oils on the canvas are evidence of his Chinese background. Zao Wou-Ki's abstract works have been inspired specifically by Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting. He ingeniously introduces elements of traditional aesthetic into his work and he is aided by the Chinese tradition in his expression of substantive subjects through abstraction. Seeing his contemporary works alongside old traditional Chinese scrolls one is immediately struck by the close aesthetic relationship between them. In 30-3-71, the mood, distance and haziness of the work take centre-stage over the subject of the painting.