Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji), Four oils on canvas @ Sotheby's Hong Kong

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (B. 1921), 18-10-60. photo courtesy Sotheby's

Oil on canvas. Executed in 1960. Signed in pinyin and Chinese (lower centre); Signed in pinyin and dated 18.10.60 (reverse); Samuel Kootz Gallery label and Arthur Lenars Cie. label affixed on the stretcher (reverse); 196 by 116 cm.; 77 1/8 by 45 5/8 in. Estimate 12,000,000—18,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 14,100,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Acquired by the present owner from Arthur Lenars Cie., Paris

NOTE: In 1957, Zao Wou-ki signed a contract with Kootz Gallery, New York. This was a considerable boost to his confidence and as fortuitous events continued to unfold in his life, his work reached new heights. As Zao Wou-ki said himself, he wished to paint things that could not be seen, like the wind, power, the physicality of life and the development and merging of colours.[1] The work in this sale,
18-10-60, is representative of Zao Wou-ki's works from the 1960s.

Zao Wou-ki makes use of the classic mountain ridge as the central focus of this composition. In 18-10-60, dark pigment dilates from the centre of the canvas through the fullness of the red paint, like a slow pulse strongly concealed in the artist's brushstrokes. The contents of Zao Wou-ki's imagination condense and collide through his fine fibrillated brushstrokes. Like a photographer using a high-definition lens to focus on his subject, Zao Wou-ki forms a confrontational and conflicting focal area on the canvas. Although there is no trace of it, the viewer can still feel that this work is in some ways an extension of Chinese landscape painting and that it embodies a kind of Eastern spirit or energy.[2]

[1] Zao Wou-ki, A Self- Portrait. By Zao Wou-ki and Francois Marquet, Art Society, Taipei, 1992, p.113
[2] "Contemplating art: Thoughts on Zao Wou-ki" by Jia Fangzhou. In Zao Wou-ki, Lin and Keng Gallery, 2005, p. 5

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (B. 1921), 5.3.71-28.11.74. photo courtesy Sotheby's

oil on canvas. Executed in 1974. Signed in pinyin and Chinese (lower right); 162 by 200 cm.; 63 3/4 by 78 3/4 in. Estimate 9,000,000—15,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 11,300,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Private Asian Collection

EXHIBITED: Taipei, Lin and Keng Gallery, Zao Wou-ki, December 2009 - January 2010

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Zao Wou-ki, Taipei, Taiwan, 2010, Lin and Keng Gallery Publishing, p. 46 and illustrated on the front cover

NOTE: The painting 5.3.71-28.11.74 is undoubtedly representative of a significant period in Zao Wou-ki's life (March 5th 1971 – November 28th 1974), and portrays a dramatic change in the artist's frame of mind.

Looking into the gloomy darkness on the left side of the canvas, a wisp of air disseminates across the canvas diffusing a death-like dimness and stretching across to the light on the right. This central quiver of black and the more centralised areas of black elsewhere on the canvas are representative of the artist's state of mind. From these areas of paint the artist is recalling the times he nursed his sick wife, the days when he lost his focal point, the days of mourning love and the days after 1973 when the artist was slowly able to let go of these thoughts and welcome a new stage into his life. He introduces soft yellows, romantic purples and subtle greys and whites into the composition to symbolize his new beginnings. Following the composition, as a whirlwind or in scattered patches, the paint creates a rhythmic melody and prepares the viewer to leave the haze of the past, to welcome in a new unforeseen life, emerging onto the canvas with a clear poetic quality. The lively arrangement and composition of the painting reveals undertones of Eastern philosophies on landscape painting.

Zao Wou-ki's use of white on the canvas provides a beautiful poetic pause in which we can peacefully wander, stop, take a step back and breathe. It is at this point that we pause, in the most quiet and beautiful of moments.[1]

[1] Zao Wou-ki, Lin and Keng Gallery, 2005, p.155

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (B. 1921), Untitled 1958-1. photo courtesy Sotheby's

oil on canvas. Executed in 1958. Signed in pinyin and Chinese (lower right); signed in pinyin and dated 1958 (on reverse); 72.7 by 60 cm.; 28 5/8 by 23 5/8 in. Estimate 3,000,000—4,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 7,460,000 HKD.

PROVENANCE

Kootz Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above in the 1960s

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (B. 1921), Composition en bleu 8.1.65. photo courtesy Sotheby's

Oil on canvas. Executed in 1965. Signed in pinyin and Chinese (lower right); signed in pinyin and dated 8.1.65 (reverse); 46.5 by 50.4 cm.; 18 3/8 by 19 7/8 in. Estimate 1,200,000—1,800,000 HKD. Lot Sold 2,900,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Private European Collection

Sotheby's. 20th Century Chinese Art. 04 Oct 10. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com