Zao Wou-Ki (1921 – 2013), 26.12.2001

Étiquettes

10th century, 26.12.2001, Casper David Friedrich, Dong Yuan, Morning Mist in the Mountains, Residents on the Outskirts of Dragon Abode, Zao Wou-Ki

Zao Wou-Ki (1921 – 2013), 26.12.2001. Estimation: 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby’s.

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Foundation Zao Wou-ki. signed in Pinyin and Chinese; signed and titled on the reverse. Executed in 2001. oil on canvas; 59.8 x 73 cm., 23 1/2  x 28 3/4  in.

Notes: In Zao Wou-ki’s definitive 26.12.2001, the elegant and subtle colours, rhythmic composition and warm spirituality inspired by ancient Chinese ink paintings fuse nature and abstraction into infinite depth of contemplation, propelling the artist to a new pinnacle late in his career. The early 2000s saw the artist’s visit to China accompanying then French President Jacque Chirac, his induction to the prestigious Académie des Beaux Arts society, and the bestowing of the Legion of Honour upon him… The present lot, painted at the onset of that lustrous decade by the 80-year-old Zao, is a resounding manifestation of the peak of his artistic achievement and a powerful rebuttal to certain prejudice that an artist’s late career output is a mere re-iteration of an earlier one.

By the end of 1957, having lived in Paris for a decade, Zao Wou-ki committed to abstraction in his art in ways which had from the beginning set him apart from his contemporaries – Vieira Da Silva, Pierre Soulages, Georges Mathieu, Jean-Paul Riopelle. He bore the burdens of two cultural heritages and his search for an artistic identity would always be accompanied by the thrills and anxieties in his quest for a cultural identity. The artist’s conciliation of the language of modern Western abstraction and a Chinese sensibility rooted in his memories of the distant past – an overwhelming consensus on Zao’s achievement to the point of becoming a myth – was therefore not born instantly or without a struggle. The process began with Zao’s determined renunciation of the ‘chinoiserie’ label, and the passionate outpouring of gestural abstraction and intensely atmospheric works throughout his early career. Paradoxically, befriending and exhibiting alongside the Parisian circle of artists rekindled a light into Zao’s memory of his cultural past. As the artist said in 1961, “If the influence of Paris is undeniable in the whole of my artistic development, I must also say that I have been rediscovering China as my personality has become consolidated… Paradoxically, it is to Paris that I owe my return to my deepest roots.” (Zao Wou-ki, cited by Martine Contensou, ‘Life Into Work’, in Zao Wou-ki, Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1989, p.24)

Casper David Friedrich, Morning Mist in the Mountains, 1808.

The 1970s then marked Zao’s return to Chinese ink paintings, which in turn imbued his canvasses with renewed freedom. The artist started blending in copious amount of turpentine oil in order to form layering the sprinkling effects previously only achievable in the ink wash medium.  The technical innovation allowed the artist to achieve lighter, softer brushworks and subtler colours such as the ones shown in the present lot. Against a crepuscular sky, shrouded in misty, peachy clouds, a mountain-scape seems to burst forth and recede back at the same time. Swaths of slate gray gently envelope the rocky peak while blotches of dark olive green jostle vibrantly for attention, not unlike the unyielding Alpine spruces in the face of icy winds.

Dong Yuan, Residents on the Outskirts of Dragon Abode, 10th century, National Palace Museum, Taiwan

Bidding farewell to the clashing contrasts in many of his earlier works, Zao increasingly steered towards subdued colours and balanced compositions imbued with the warm spirituality often found in ancient Chinese landscape paintings.  In the present work, the imposing central composition echoes the monumental mountains in Northern Song paintings, through which recluse painters at the time sought solace and moral guidance from nature. Yet – this is where Zao’s genius conciliation of the East and West lies – the texturing techniques (rubbing, blotching, staining) inspired by ink paintings, combined with the minutely varied colours in oil, generate a spatial depth in constant flux, endowing the painting with a sense of infinite extension, both into the picture plane and beyond the frame.  The volcanic outburst of the olive green at the mountaintop is one such sign of a landscape escaping into abstraction, of substance turning into void, of the tangible longing for the intangible. It conveys at once the Taoist idea of vital energies and Romantic contemplation of nature. It is then apt to draw a comparison between our present work and Morning Mist in the Mountains (1808) by Casper David Friedrich. At the onset of their respective centuries, both artists succeeded in re-generating their vision of nature to the brink of becoming something else: one drew inspiration from a devotion to religion, the other from an ancient tradition deep in the artist’s mind. Indeed, in the eyes of art historian Jonathan Hay, Zao’s return to his roots produced the best of his oeuvre, “out of this shift came a decade of work that attains a state of grace: a quality of gesture that is stripped of all hurriedness and creates a more powerful “bone-structure”, a luminosity extending from infinite softness to enveloping darkness, a topography of form that opens itself to stillness and silence.” (“Zao Wou-ki, Lately’, in Zao Wou-ki Recent Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2003, p.6)  Zao’s contribution to art history extends beyond just abstraction. The ultimate reward of seeing his art lies precisely in the delicate, emotive and unrelenting confrontation with the inbetweenness of his dual cultural heritage, of nature and abstraction, of art and life.

Zao Wou-Ki (1921 – 2013), 26.12.2001 (detail). Estimation: 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 HKD. Photo Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s. Boundless: Contemporary Art. Hong Kong | 20 janv. 2015, 06:30 PM

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (1920-2013), 22.01.68

Étiquettes

22.01.68, William Turner, Zao Wou-Ki

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (1920-2013), 22.01.68. Photo Sotheby’s

signed in Pinyin and Chinese; signed in Pinyin, titled and dated 22.1.68 on the reverse, oil on canvas, 73.2 by 92 cm.;   28 7/8  by 36 1/4  in. Estimation 6,000,000 — 10,000,000 HKD

AUTHENTIFICATION: This work will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen (Information provided by Foundation Zao Wou-Ki).

PROVENANCE: Galerie  de France, Paris
Private American Collection
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Love at First Sight, Devotion at Second

22.01.68 by Zao Wou-Ki

Ever fallen in love with a work of art at first sight? Perhaps there was a painting that filled you with new delight and understanding each time you saw it. Zao Wou-Ki’s 22.01.68 （Lot 1005）tells a touching story.

After Zao Wou-Ki completed 22.01.68 in 1968, it was collected by the Galerie de France in Paris and then purchased by a visiting American collector. The collector displayed the painting in his company offices alongside works by American contemporary artists and the Italian sculptor Marino Marini. Years later, when the collector was dying, he asked an outstanding company employee to choose a work of art from his collection, as a parting gift of gratitude for 25 years of service and friendship. Without a moment’s hesitation, the employee selected Zao Wou-Ki’s 22.01.68, and remains its owner to this day.

In February 2005, when the employee chose this painting, after having seen it every day at work for years, he neither knew the value, nor who Zao Wou-Ki was. He simply had a special fondness for it. He says that he is not a collector and has never studied art—he even says that he has never liked abstract painting. However, this artwork possessed a certain magical quality that fascinated him. Its monochromatic blue seems to contain a mythical world: a perfect balance of tranquillity and movement that conjures up a sea of energy or a mountain peak wrapped in mist. Receiving this gift made the employee feel like the luckiest person in the world, and to this day, each time he sees 22.01.68, it strikes him in a new way. But this is more than a 25-year old love story between an individual and a work of art; it is also a prologue to the legend of Zao Wou-Ki.

The Pinnacle of International Prestige

« I listen attentively and open my heart to you through your painting so that you can say the crucial things you wish to share with me. I feel that your intense personality is different from ours, but I also feel a strong personal affinity  for you. I am truly happy to say it: this person is so different, and the world, the past, the race, the light in your heart are all unknown to me … but I know and recognize something in your work that touches me … your paintings are beautiful. They surpass the practice of skill, and are more truthful than before. »

This letter to Zao Wou-Ki from the renowned French post-war abstract painter Alfred Manessier, written in 1960, voices Manessier’s full-hearted acceptance of his Chinese colleague while also providing the best possible articulation of how a work of art can deeply move someone, regardless of nationality.

In 1958, Zao Wou-Ki moved on from the achievements of his oracle-bone period by removing script-symbols from his paintings. He progressed to a phase of relying solely on line and colour to express his thoughts and emotions with a series of « abstract landscapes ». In the 1960s, his outstanding work drew him into mainstream art circles and won him a place on the list of renowned post-war abstractionists. He received numerous invitations from international museums and travelled abroad to hold exhibitions at institutions such as Museum Folkwang in Essen and the Albertina in Vienna, which both held retrospectives for Zao in 1965. In 1968, his works were included in the important « Painting in France 1900-1967 » exhibition, which travelled to the National Gallery in Washington D.C., New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and elsewhere. The artist himself described the period as the pinnacle of his reputation. He painted 22.01.68 in this context, demonstrating his maturity, self-possession, facility, and confidence in a sterling example of his 1960s work.

A Heady Brew of Innovation

« In the face of the dangerous myth of complete incompatibility between Eastern and Western cultures, Zao Wou-Ki is a small but powerful disproof. »
French poet H. Cloude

In 22.01.68, Zao Wou-Ki steers his use of colour toward the ocean and sky’s most pure hues of blue. He uses a large brush  strokes, at times great and free, at times light and gentle. Minute dots of indigo and violet depict a natural mystery of churning seas and rushing rivers. The lines of white and blue-black at the centre of the painting leap and gyrate like samba dancers, coming, going, and changing pace with a splendid and lithe sense of movement. Zao deliberately used diluted oil paints on the top and lower left sections of the canvas in order to produce a light, airy, and misty effect akin to Chinese ink wash painting. As the renowned Chinese-French writer François Cheng once said: « On the surface, Zao Wou-Ki’s paintings seem to possess a certain consistency of style, but in fact they are unceasingly exploring, adopting, and incorporating. In his oil paintings, he uses swaths of colour to arrange the tableau, preserving therein many fine techniques of traditional Chinese painting. At the same time, in matters of colour, space, and composition, he has absorbed the practices of Western painting. In his attempts to strengthen perspective and contrast, he strives for breadth, depth and a balance of complex structure and disruption … expressing broad and diverse sensibilities. » Zao seamlessly assimilates, internalizes, and reinvents the essences of Chinese and Western aesthetics, manifesting in his paintings a rich and astonishing world. The artist throws open the doors and invites us into the painting for a light dance, a slow stroll, a shared moment of sunlight.

William Turner, A Storm, watercolour on paper, 1823, Collection of British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum. Zao Wou-Ki’s composition and use of colour in 22.1.68 strike an intriguing resonance with Turner’s work.

Sotheby’s. Modern and Contemporary Asian Art — Evening Sale. Hong Kong | 05 oct. 2014, 07:00 PM

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (1920-2013), 14.12.62

Étiquettes

14.12.62, Northern Song dynasty, Wen Tong, Zao Wou-Ki

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (1920-2013), 14.12.62. Photo Sotheby’s

signed in Pinyin and Chinese; signed in Pinyin, titled and dated 14.12.62 on the reverse, oil on canvas, 129.8 by 97 cm.;   51 1/8  by 38 1/8  in. Estimation 12,000,000 — 18,000,000 HKD

AUTHENTIFICATION: This work will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen (Information provided by Foundation Zao Wou-Ki).

PROVENANCE: Galerie de France, Paris
Private American Collection
Private European Collection

EXPOSITION: Paris, Galerie de France, Zao Wou-Ki, 7 June – 7 July 1963, pl.8

LITTERATURE: Zao Wou-Ki, The Redfern Gallery, London, 1963, pl.8
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Edicions Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1978, pl.304, p.285
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Hier et Demain, Paris, 1978, pl.304, p.285
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1979, pl.304, p.285
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 1979, pl.304, p.285
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Cercle d’Art, Paris, 1986, pl.336, p.325

Exploring the infinite possibilities of mental imagery

14.12.62 by Zao Wou-Ki

In the 1960s, Zao Wou-Ki’s works became totally abstract. He broke away from the interference of objects and focused on internal emotions and the emotional spirit. As he points out in his autobiography, « The source of my inspiration is my inner world. Apart from my internal requirements, I don’t have any other considerations. I don’t need guidance from anyone, as long as I think the inspiration is big and strong enough. » At that time, Zao Wou-Ki’s works were rich in the spirit of Chinese Daoism, adopting lines from Chinese calligraphy and structures from landscape painting. Thanks to his experience travelling in America in the 1950s, he met masters of abstract expressionism including Franz Kline and Adolph Gottleib. He experienced freedom in his creation without any fetters, meaning that he also had the courage to discard the burdens that he had to bear and establish his own abstract world by making disruptive breakthroughs.

The eastern universe born out of abstraction

At every stage of Zao Wou-Ki’s career, his works demonstrated complete philosophies and his distinctive world view at each particular stage in life. Between these different stages there are subtle links, making up a complete development path. In 1959, he married a film star from Shaw Brothers Film Company, May Chan, and returned to Paris. He was at a peak both physically and mentally and his passion and courage in art are demonstrated clearly in 14.12.62（Lot 1002）. This painting has a full composition from top to bottom, with all the power focused on the longitudinal axis. Sharp ink lines interlaced with the convergence below, creating a sense of stability. Nickel yellow was stacked and brushed on rapidly, spurting out at the joining points of the ink lines. It is as if the air of life is blossoming into chaos, pointing at the top and lighting up the area all around, creating lines and space. The connotation echoes implicitly with the cosmology of the Thousand Character Classics from the Southern Dynasties, where it was written: « The sky was black and the earth was yellow, the universe was born as chaos, the sun rises and sets and stars spread all over the universe. » It shows that Zao Wou-Ki was moving spiritually towards the highest state of Chinese philosophy – « unity of nature and man » and « integration with all creatures ».

From the past to eternity, exploring time

The composition of 14.12.62, in which two sides are connected to support the painting, was the typical style that Zao employed in the 1960s. It reminds people of the stone tablets from the Han and Tang Dynasties that stand for thousands of years and the huge steles in the Roman Pantheon. In fact, Zao travelled a lot in the 1950s. He was studying magnificent and mysterious ancient ruins. This inspired his works during his ‘Oracle Bones Period’ between 1954 and 1959. If we compare this painting toThe Night is Stirring, which is kept at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and 3.4.60 – 1.2.69 that Zao Wou-Ki took to his first La Biennale di Venezia, we can see where the composition of this painting came from: His 1956 work The Night is Stirring is highly symbolic. The texture of the oracle bones and stele that stand against the dark blue background ascends like a tornado, creating a mysterious atmosphere. In his 1960 work 3.4.60 – 1.2.69, the use of colours emphasized a contrast with the past. There were no longer characters or symbols and the lines and colours were more closely integrated. It stressed the sense of power and speed. In 14.12.62, the artist followed the same composition and deeply pondered the relationship between lines, colours and space. While continuing to refine himself, Zao Wou-Ki ‘s exploration also gradually transformed from a time-oriented nostalgia to the eternal movement of the universe.

Deep integration of light and space

In 14.12.62, the deep ivory black and bright yellow were no longer in such a sharp contrast. There is a concealed mutual transformation and integration of the two colours.  It is as if the black lines at the bottom created the strong light in the middle. As the light touches the top of the painting, it expands and reflects over the whole picture, gradually integrating and then fading into the deep background. It forms a cycle of light and space, just like the chiaroscuro technique of the Renaissance, creating tension in the picture and making it dramatic. This not only reflects an improvement of Zao’s technique as an artist, but also symbolises an expansion of his spiritual world. Zao Wou-Ki himself said, « I have to fight with space on a large canvas. I have to fill it and bring it to life. When I apply strokes, sometimes I press the paint into the canvas with a painting knife as if the paint could penetrate into space. » When the paints penetrate the painting through the brush or a painting knife, it is also the process of colours forming a space through lines. The idea of a void-substance combination and interlacing has something in common with the paintings of mountains and rivers from the Northern Song Dynasty. For example, in A Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks by Li Cheng, the intertwined gullies and mixed lights and colours resemble the changes in the colours and lines on the longitudinal axis in 14.12.62. This is a fusion of ancient landscape painting and modern abstract painting.

A creative process combining calligraphy and action painting

As the abstract wave swept across the world, artists from both the East and West tried to introduce Chinese calligraphy into their works, but there were various difficulties: Forms of writing used to appear in books, albums or scrolls in the form of characters. When this was adopted in abstract paintings, there was suddenly a much larger space that could be used, so it was a big test for artists’ skills, accomplishment and even their coordination. 14.12.62 presents the bold and flexible lines from calligraphy using Western pens, brushes and painting knives. It not only required switching painting tools but also the use of the wrist, the arm and even the whole body. It integrated the action painting proposed by Jackson Pollock, an influential member of the New York School. Zao Wou-Ki started learning Chinese ink painting from an early age and went to the West after he grew up. His deep understanding of Eastern and Western civilizations promoted an important combination of the two cultures, as François Cheng, a fellow of the Académie Française said: “Zao Wou-Ki’s destiny in art was not only his own, it is closely related to the development and evolution of Chinese painting for thousands of years. Thanks to his works, a long period of stagnation in Chinese painting ended. The true symbiosis of China and the West that should have happened a long time before appeared for the first time.”

Zao Wou-Ki, The Night is Stirring, 1956, oil on canvas, collection of Art Institute of Chicago © Art Institute of Chicago

Zao Wou-Ki, 03.04.60 – 01.02.69, 1960-1969, oil on canvas, sold at HKD 7,068,000 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong 40th Anniversary Sale © Sotheby’s Hong Kong

Wen Tong, Bamboo, ink on silk scroll, Northern Song, collection of Taipei Palace Museum © Taipei Palace Museum

Sotheby’s. Modern and Contemporary Asian Art — Evening Sale. Hong Kong | 05 oct. 2014, 07:00 PM

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (1920-2013), 25.09.60

Étiquettes

25.09.60, Zao Wou-Ki, Zhang Daqian

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji) (1920-2013), 25.09.60. Photo Sotheby’s

Kootz Gallery, New York label affixed to the stretcher on the reverse, signed in Chinese and Pinyin; signed in Pinyin, titled and dated 25.9.60 on the reverse, oil on canvas, 130 by 162 cm.;   51 1/8  by 63 3/4  in. Estimation 12,000,000 — 18,000,000 HKD

AUTHENTIFICATION: This work will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen (Information provided by Foundation Zao Wou-Ki).

PROVENANCE: Kootz Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above circa 1962

A magnificient classic from 1960s

Zao Wou-Ki 25.09.60

The years between 1957 and 1960 marked a critical turning point in the creative journey of Zao Wou-Ki. In those years, the artist’s style underwent a seismic shift, which, by the 1960s, had catapulted his career and established him as the first Chinese master of Western art to command international acclaim.

In 1957, Zao held his first solo exhibit at the Galerie de France in Paris. The show was met with unprecedented, positive response, which solidly grounded the artist as an important figure in the Parisian art scene. During this time, however, Zao was dealing with the traumatic emotional aftermath of a divorce from his first wife Xie Jinglan (better known as Lalan), so in pursuit of equanimity in his life and a stylistic breakthrough in his work, Zao left Paris and set for New York in September of that year, following the completion of his exhibition. Arriving in a postwar America, he met many of the important New York School Abstract Expressionist artists, such as Franz Kline, Conrad Marca-Relli, and Philip Guston. The rich vitality and fresh progressive style of abstract expressionism heavily influenced Zao, who began to stride towards large-scale creations.

In 1958, during a short interlude in Hong Kong, Zao met actress May Zao, who would become his second wife. After returning to France, he built a private studio in the Montparnasse neighborhood. The studio was large and spacious, and designed such that the studio’s interior was completely isolated from the external world. With natural light shining in from the roof, the studio provided an ideal environment for the artist to work on his large-scale paintings with abandon, as well as to indulge in his thoughts and meditations. Nourished by the success of his career and his romance, Zao created a series of thrilling, classic paintings in this studio. The painting 25.09.60 （Lot 1015）, currently on auction, is one of the brilliant masterpieces completed during this time.

1960 was an important year, with the launch of Zao’s second solo exhibition, held at Kootz Gallery in New York. Completed in 1960, 25.09.60 was purchased by an American collector from Kootz Gallery that same year, and has remained in the owner’s collection until today. Completely unlike the artist’s work in the 1950s, the painting clearly displays the artist’s formal commitment to pure abstraction. Gone are the ideographic script and symbols from Zao’s oracle bone period. Instead, what appears before the viewer is bold, courageous application of color as well as a free and boundless composition. The center of the canvas is the focal point of 25.09.60, the colors black and red are applied with quick brushstrokes, layered to create a three-dimensional space that evokes the image of lightning flashing upon barren land. The dry and short brushstrokes gently tremble, the grand, horizontal sweeps and the fluid, diagonal lines display the artist’s masterful technique and expression of vitality. This virtuosity is a reminder of Zao’s early education in Chinese calligraphy, from which he learned to command the brush with strength and vigor. The expansive swaths of earth colors and whites evoke the image of mountains encircled by a clear, limpid lake. As this scene interacts with the band of dark black above it, a dramatic contrast emerges.

Zao once said the following about the work he was producing in the 1960s: “In the last few years, I’ve been able to paint with a free hand, to paint as I please; issues of technique no longer exist, I just follow my mood. Large-scale paintings require me to wrestle with space. Not only do I need to fill it, I must give it life, and throw myself, immerse myself into the canvas. I want to display dynamism: maybe it’s mercurial sentimentality, or maybe it’s a flash of intensity. I want to use the many registers of vibration that occur between color contrasts and varying tones of the same color to incite the canvas to move and leap…” In 25.09.60, the artist cleverly emphasizes the visual effect at the center of the large canvas. With skilled manipulation of color tones, the artist blends turpentine into the oil paint, bestowing a sense of motion onto the canvas that resembles the flowing movement of Chinese ink-wash paintings. What results is a rhythmic space that is rich with courage and strength. Having admired the Song dynasty landscape paintings since his youth, Zao pays homage to his heritage in this painting by dividing the composition evenly into three sections, the center imposing and threatening, while the spaces at the top and bottom are filled simply with colors of light brown and amber, creating an effect of soaring and pure boundlessness. The composition is at once strong and supple, embodying the sparse and still undercurrent of Chinese literati paintings. The viewer needs not speculate upon what the artist is trying to convey. We naturally experience it, the artist’s pursuit of “that which we cannot see: the different dimensions of life, the wind, the life of shapes, and the origins and fusion of colors.”

Created six years apart, Zao’s 25.09.60 and An Invitation to Rusticate, a painting by Zao’s good friend and Chinese guohuamaster Zhang Daqian, despite using different Eastern and Western materials, are both conceptual expressions of abstract landscapes. In Chang’s An Invitation to Rusticate, we see the form and shape of the material world. Zao’s 25.09.60, in contrast, communicates a bold and fearless energy, oil pigments layered and overlapping, blending and flowing into each other, enticing the imagination to gallop freely. Of the artists Zao encountered in America, Franz Kline, a leader of the Abstract Expressionist movement, was heavily influenced by Chinese calligraphy, becoming in expert at using the colors of black, white, and gray. In Kline’s large-scale painting Shenandoah, wide and rough bands of paint linger daringly upon the canvas. It’s easy to imagine that, in the initial encounter between Zao and Kline, the Chinese artist must have also been inspired by the dramatic dynamism of action painting, a style he later adopted and infused into his own work after returning to France.

After 1959, Zao stopped naming his works, giving each painting its own living entity, with a birth date. The artist no longer needed to label his works with a subject, breaking free from the limits of symbolism, and simply expressing through oil colors his pure and authentic internal state as well as his experience of the external world. As Song dynasty artist Guo Xi once said, “When a painting can evoke its world in the viewer’s heart, creating a reality, that painting is indeed marvelous.” Zao fully utilizes his control of Western oil colors, metamorphosing his feelings and spirit onto the canvas as shapes and colors. Upon this exquisite composition, a sense of harmony and symbiotic balance is created in the intense contrast between the void and the solid. The electricity and radiance that sparks from the rendezvous between Eastern and Western art is fully manifested in this painting. 25.09.60 has been perfectly preserved in the United States for over fifty years. Marking its first appearance at auction with Sotheby’s, this painting will undoubtedly be the object of competition among collectors of Zao Wou-Ki.

Zao Wou-Ki © May Zao

Zhang Daqian, An Invitation to Rusticate, 1966, ink and splashed color on paper , sold at HKD 71,800,000 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong The Mei Yun Tang Collection of Paintings by Chang Dai-Chien on 27th May, 2013 © Sotheby’s Hong Kong

Sotheby’s. Modern and Contemporary Asian Art — Evening Sale. Hong Kong | 05 oct. 2014, 07:00 PM

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji), 1920-2013, Début d’octobre (Beginning of October)

Étiquettes

Beginning of October, Début d'octobre, Zao Wou-Ki

Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji), 1920-2013, Début d’octobre (Beginning of October). Photo Sotheby’s

Kootz Gallery, New York label affixed to the stretcher on the reverse, signed in Chinese and Pinyin and dated 55; signed in Pinyin, titled and dated 1955 on the reverse, oil on canvas, 97.5 by 146.3 cm.;   38 3/8  by 57 5/8  in. Estimation 25,000,000 — 35,000,000 HKD

AUTHENTIFICATION: This work will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen (Information provided by Foundation Zao Wou-Ki).

PROVENANCE: Kootz Gellery, New York
Acquired by the family of the present owner in the mid-1960s; thence by descent.

EXPOSITION: Paris, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Zao Wou-Ki, 14 October- 7 December 2003, p. 82

LITTERATURE: Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Edicions Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1978, pl. 49, p. 94
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Hier et Demain, Paris, 1978, pl. 49, p. 94
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1979, pl. 49, p. 94
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Rizzoli International Publications, New York, pl. 49, p. 94
Jean Leymarie, ed., Zao Wou-Ki, Cercle d’Art, Paris, 1986, pl.49, p.94
Hommage à Zao Wou-Ki, Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 2010, p. 114

Debut d’Octobre 

A Masterpiece from Zao Wou-Ki’s Oracle-Bone Period

« To paint is to have an adventure. Each time one must try something one hasn’t tried before. If it is not an adventure, then there is no need to paint it. »
Zao Wou-Ki

By the early 1950s Zao Wou-Ki had already won acclaim in international art circles. in 1951 he  was invited to hold his first solo exhibition in France at the Gallery Pierre in Paris; the following year, the Cadby-Birch Gallery in New York hosted another exhibition for him. Also in 1952 profiled in Life, he was « a rising star from China in international art circles ».  However, Zao did not allow this early recognition to stagnate his creative growth. As he saw it, painting was a kind of adventure: a process of creation, destruction, and re-creation. In 1954, he became increasingly discontent with using simplified lines to portray his observations of natural scenes and objects, and his artistic practice underwent a decisive transition. The still lifes, landscapes, and childlike, poetic scenes that Paul Klee had inspired in Zao had gradually become limitations. He sought to break free and explore, to transcend his earlier self and to create a language of painting not limited by subject material.

Zao began to reconsider his homeland, China, and the rich cultural traditions of the East. The aesthetic heritage of stele rubbings, calligraphy, pictography, oracle-bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, and ink wash painting provided him with fresh sources of inspiration. He sought to establish a highly individual and exceptional system of expression. In 1954, he painted Vent, a work that is considered his first abstract painting. In this painting’s boundless, nearly monochromatic grey-black space, figurative depiction is replaced by a series of flowing, interconnected symbols. As Zao once said, « still life, flowers, and animals have disappeared. I use symbols—certain imagined things that fall into a monochromatic background—in an attempt to explore. Later, slowly, the symbols in the painting become shapes, and the background becomes a space. My painting begins to move, to live ». Zao had found a personal and authentic basis for painting. The symbols in his paintings, which resembled Chinese characters, announced a new brand of artistic expression: the arrival of his oracle-bone period.

In 1954, Zao was struggling through a phase of gloomy colours, but by 1955, he introduced a new artistic language of increased facility and maturity. His use of colour became more daring and bright; his new paintings were like carefree butterflies freshly emerged from their cocoons. Debut d’Octobre （Lot 1006）is a major representative work from this period.

A Poetic Suggestion of Movement

In Debut d’Octobre, a boundless grey-brown background hints at temporality, providing a setting for the pitch-black brushstrokes—rising, pressing, halting, receding, framing, and shading—that Zao uses to form character-like symbols. Some of these symbols possess a demanding gravitas with the weightiness of carved stone. Others, fine and lithe, seem to dance on the canvas with nymphal rhythm and agility; their hints of movement, like a shuttle through a loom, forms a contrast with their more solid counterparts. Although the symbols resemble letters or characters, they have no readily discernible literal content. But they seem to break the silence of the canvas and share ancient secrets with the viewer—like scars tempered by the passage of time.

Earthy ochre, mystical violet, and a radiant crimson kindle a dramatic brilliance as they roam about the initially indistinct background. The interplay of colour forms a portal to a diversely luminous world. Zao’s deep red evokes maple trees in the autumn.

In text on the reverse of the painting, the artist mentions « Debut d’octobre » (the beginning of October), calling to mind the sight of the hills of Fountainebleau ablaze with red leaves in the autumn, or the fall colours evoked by the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi in « Sleeping on a Night of Autumn Rain »: « When dawn comes, clear and cold, he does not rise / The red frosted leaves cover the steps ». The painting is a vivid portrayal of seasonal atmosphere. In Chinese culture, the colour red is also a symbol of jubilation, warmth, and rebirth, and the role of the crimson in the overall tableau of the painting is to manifest a thrumming vitality. Zao plays the part of choreographer, presenting the viewer with an autumnal dance in which the bodies of the performers recite a poem of movement and conjure a visual banquet.

A Surging, Moving Melody

« Sound … emanates, propagates, communicates, vibrates, and agitates; it leaves a body and enters others; it binds and unhinges, harmonizes and traumatizes; it sends the body moving, the mind dreaming, and the air oscillating. It seemingly eludes definition, while having profound effect. »
American sound artist Brandon LaBelle

In December 1954, Zao Wou-Ki met the avant-garde French musician Edgard Varèse at a concert. The two men formed a close friendship on the basis of mutual admiration. Varèse, an advocate of « liberating music from the constraints of tradition », transformed everyday objects into musical instruments, launching a revolution in twentieth century music. His music features contrasting tone qualities and original compositions that incite in the listener a sense of pleasant surprise. This music inspired, stimulated, and shocked Zao. Debut d’Octobre, which Zao completed in 1955, is a flat canvas, but its coloured light emits an undulating rhythm that expands and contracts in space. This intense contrast, much like Varèse’s music, interweaves the tune of the artistic soul with the exaltation of the philosophical mind. As the renowned Chinese-French writer François Cheng once said, « When Zao Wou-Ki paints, he interweaves and combines. Beyond that, he often locates certain places in a painting that can breathe. He uses meticulous lines and brushstrokes to draw them out so that the viewer can see. It is like the intersection of one hundred sounds in which one sometimes hears the clear sound of a single string or pipe … the canvas is like a musical score filled with notes that multiply and echo together. The tone of the notes is like the hue of the colours, forming complementary reverberations, sometimes strong, sometimes distant ». The appeal lingers.

The Path to the World Stage

« We see in Zao Wou-Ki’s paintings a kind of skill that only a modern artist can possess, but his roots in tradition do not suffer; there is both the loquacious sound of these roots, like a mother-tongue, and a path away from authority … a face half-obstructed by a lute allows straight lines to break apart and tremble. An idle stroll, a mountain path outlined by slender, intoxicated antennae—these are the apples of Zao Wou-Ki’s eye. Abruptly, an image emerges from a garden of symbols, rich in curiosity, trembling in delight, and a festive atmosphere quietly builds, like a joyous celebration in a Chinese hamlet ».
French poet Henri Michaux

Reflecting on the state of international art circles in the 1950s, the art critic Kao Chien-Hui once wrote: « In the framework of mainstream Western art, as China moved toward socialist realism, the expression of Eastern calligraphy in the West developed in the 1950s. Post-war Western artists who employed calligraphic expression were more-or-less mainstream at the time. The German-French artist Hans Hartung, the Swiss artist Gérard Schneider, the French artists Pierre Soulages and Yves Klein, and the American artist Mark Tobey, among others, established themselves as the first wave of avant-garde post-war painters ». After arriving in France in 1948, Zao Wou-Ki found himself in Paris’s avant-garde scene, where he also befriended mainstream artists such as Soulages and Hartung. When the Eastern calligraphy trend arose in Paris in the 1950s, Zao, as a Chinese painter, naturally chose to explore its roots in tradition and refine its essence. As a result, he produced a particular artistic style that established his unique prominence amid the tide of post-war abstract painting. Debut d’Octobre exemplifies Zao’s successful creation of a modern and highly individual expressive language that employs the concepts, style, and abstraction of traditional Chinese calligraphy and literary art. He incorporated modernism into his artwork while also providing traditional Chinese art with a path to the world stage. Debut d’Octobre does not portray a figurative scene; its ineffable world contains references and implications that transcend representational expression. It proffers to the viewer a richer imagination with fuller emotions. Following its completion, the artwork was exhibited in the Kootz Gallery in New York. It was collected by a private American collector in the 1960s and has been perfectly preserved over the past 40 years. Its present availability is a rare opportunity.

Zao Wou-Ki, Vent, oil on canvas, 1954, Centre Pompidou National Art Museum, Paris, Centre of Industrial Design Collection ©Centre Pompidou National Art Museum, Paris, Centre of Industrial Design Collection

Early autumn leaves turn from orange to red, providing the inspiration for Zao Wou-Ki’s Debut d’Octobre

Van Gogh’s The Red Vineyard, oil on canvas, 1988. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Russia. Van Gogh employed rich colors and rapid, short brushstrokes to portray a scene of workers laboring in a riverside field under the full sun. The painting’s vivid expression, internalized landscape, and use of color form an interesting dialogue with Zao Wou-Ki’s Debut d’Octobre © Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, Russia

Sotheby’s. Modern and Contemporary Asian Art — Evening Sale. Hong Kong | 05 oct. 2014, 07:00 PM

Fine Art Asia presents its strongest collection of museum-quality fine art and antiques for its 10th edition

Étiquettes

10th century, 28.8.96, Alisan Fine Arts, archaic bronze vessel, Avalokitèshvara Padmapani, Burmese Sapphire Brooch, Dehres, Early Western Zhou Dynasty, Elizabeth Taylor, gui, Hong Kong, Joyce Gallery, late 19th century, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Richard Burton, Rossi & Rossi, Six Auspicious Cranes, The Buckingham Vase, Western Tibet, Yu Hui, Zao Wou-Ki

Avalokitèshvara Padmapani, Western Tibet, Bronze, trace of gilding, cast in the lost wax method, 34.8 cm (17 ¾ in), 10th century exhibited by Rossi & Rossi, London/Hong Kong (HK$27,300,000).

HONG KONG.- Fine Art Asia 2014, Asia’s leading international fine art fair, celebrates its 10th edition from 4-7 October at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, (Private Preview Friday, 3 October).

Key artworks include an archaic bronze 10th-11th century figure of Avalokitèshvara Padmapani from Western Tibet, exhibited by Rossi & Rossi, London/Hong Kong (HK$27,300,000); a highly important agate collection from Iran, 1st millennium BC, presented by David Aaron Ancient Art, London (over US$100,000); an archaic bronze vessel with four animal masks shown by Joyce Gallery, Hong Kong; and a rare 18th century volume on China exhibited by Shapero Rare Books, London. Douwes Fine Art, Amsterdam, will bring Rembrandt etchings, while MacConnal-Mason Gallery, London present “Scene de Plage” by Eugène-Louis Boudin and Gladwell & Patterson show “Portrait d bébé (Lucien Daudet)” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Outstanding silver pieces include The Buckingham Vase dating from 1811 exhibited by Koopman Rare Art, London. A magnificent late 19th century Burmese sapphire brooch given to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton, will be shown by Dehres, Hong Kong (HK$39,000,000). “28.8.96” by Zao Wou-ki will be displayed by Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, Hong Kong (HK$13,000,000); while Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong will present “Six Auspicious Cranes” by Yu Hui (b. 1960) (HK$2,000,000).

An extremely rare archaic bronze vessel, gui, with square pedestal and inscription, Early Western Zhou Dynasty (c.1046-977 BC).H. 23cm x W. 24.5cm x L. 17.5cm. Joyce Gallery, Hong Kong.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Portrait de Bébé (Lucien Daudet). Executed in 1878.Signed and dated ‘Renoir.78’ (upper right). Pastel on paper.H. 52.9cm x W.42.5cm. Gladwell & Patterson, London. 

Paul Storr, London(1771-1844), The Buckingham Vase dating from 1811 exhibited by Koopman Rare Art, London.

A Magnificent Non-Heated Burmese Sapphire Brooch. Late 19th century, 37.29 carats, given to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton. Dehres, Hong Kong. (HK$39,000,000).

Zao Wou-Ki (1921 – 2013), 28.8.96, 1996. Oil on Canvas. H. 195cm x W. 130cm. Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, Hong Kong (HK$13,000,000)

Yu Hui (b. 1960), Six Auspicious Cranes, 2012, 92x171cm. Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong. (HK$2,000,000).

Fine Art Asia 2014 is staged at the peak of the October art season in Hong Kong and coincides with Sotheby’s auctions in the same venue. A sophisticated audience of over 35,000 visitors is expected to attend, including major dealers, collectors, curators and connoisseurs from throughout Asia as well as from all over the world.

A unique array of fine art
On display at the fair will be Asian and Western antiques including ancient Chinese bronzes, rare Himalayan, Central Asian and Islamic art, Chinese ceramics, lacquer wares, snuff bottles and scholars’ objects, furniture, textiles and jades; as well as European decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. Visitors can discover the finest antique silver from both East and West, and iconic jewellery by the world’s greatest designers including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari. Old Master paintings, Impressionist and Modern art should not be missed, with works by Rembrandt, Renoir, Matisse, Rodin, Picasso, Miró, Moore and Andy Warhol on view. The contemporary art section will highlight paintings by Zao Wou-ki and acclaimed international artists, as well as exceptional Chinese ink paintings.

Andy Hei, Co-Chairman and Director of Fine Art Asia said, “We are proud to celebrate our 10th edition with our strongest-ever collection of antiques and fine art from both East and West. Once again this year we are delighted to welcome leading international galleries from all over the world. Hong Kong is the centre of the art market in Asia and has established a key role in the global art market.”

Calvin Hui, Co-chairman and Director of Fine Art Asia said, “Ever since its inception, Fine Art Asia has played a crucial role in creating a platform of excellence for the international art world in Hong Kong. The fair brings the finest pieces to Asian collectors, as well as introducing new collecting categories, thus expanding the fine art market in Asia.”

Fair programmes
Cognac and Art through the Ages
Fine Art Asia 2014 sponsor Martell is one of the oldest cognac houses in the world, founded in 1715. The fair will feature a special art project, “Cognac and Art through the Ages” which will trace the development of Martell Cognac alongside precious works of art by iconic masters over the past 300 years.

n addition, the exquisite Tricentenaire edition Martell bottle, designed by world-renowned contemporary French artist Bernar Venet, will be unveiled for the first time to guests and the media at Fine Art Asia 2014.

Chinese Imperial Treasures
Since its inception in 2006, Fine Art Asia has presented outstanding museum-quality antiques displayed by world-renowned galleries, each a specialist in its field. To celebrate the 10th edition of the fair in 2014, a special exhibition of exquisite antiques will be shown, epitomizing the most important periods in Chinese history.

Throughout the centuries, the finest Chinese artworks were made for the Emperor, often in the Imperial Palace Workshops in Beijing. Included in the exhibition will be examples of classical Chinese furniture from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644); Chinese porcelain from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Ming Dynasty, and the Kangxi (1662-1722) and Qianlong periods (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty; as well as rare Ming and Qing Dynasty lacquer wares, bronzes and enamel pieces.