Zao Wou-ki (1921-2013), 17-4-69, 1969, oil on canvas
“I wanted to paint what cannot be seen: the breath of life, the wind, movement, the life of forms, the blossoming of colors and their fusion.”
- Zao Wou Ki, 1988
Zao Wou-Ki (1920–2013) is one of the major painters of lyrical abstraction in the 20th century and a key figure in the dialogue between Chinese pictorial tradition and Western modernity.
Born in Beijing, Zao Wou-Ki was trained from an early age in calligraphy and classical Chinese painting before entering the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. In 1948, he settled in Paris, which became his principal place of creation and where he absorbed contemporary artistic movements, from Paul Klee to European and American abstraction.
After an initial figurative period marked by Cubist and Surrealist influences, Zao Wou-Ki moved toward a radical form of abstraction in the mid-1950s. His painting freed itself from representation to explore space, breath, and movement. Calligraphic signs, light, and depth became the true subjects of his works, often executed on monumental scales. His art is distinguished by a poetic tension between emptiness and fullness, violence and meditation, chaos and harmony.
Early recognized on the international scene, Zao Wou-Ki exhibited in the world’s leading museums and institutions. In 2002, he was elected to the prestigious Académie des beaux-arts in France, consecrating an exceptional career between East and West. Deeply spiritual and universal, his work continues to exert a lasting influence on contemporary painting and today holds a major place in international public and private collections.