1963
Oil on Canvas
55 x 50 cm
Signed Wou-Ki in Chinese, Zao in English Signed Zao Wou-Ki in English and dated 1. 4. 63 and size
Estimate TWD 30,000,000-38,000,000
USD 1,071,400-1,357,100
HKD 0-0
Hammer Price TWD 38,560,000
USD 1,388,049
HKD 11,017,143
With a certificate of authenticity issued by the ZAO WOUKI Fondation
Provenance：
Illustrated：
Exhibition：
Exposition：
“People think that painting and writing consist in reproducing forms and likeness. No. The role of painting is to bring things out of chaos.” – Zao Wou-Ki
Zao Wou-ki was skilled at weaving abstract compositions with idiosyncratically elegant lines and nuanced colors. He dissolved the divide between Chinese and Western paintings, effortlessly constructing a conceptual realm with the soul of Chinese traditions in the body of Western oil paint; personifying the Chinese landscape, the calligraphic xieyi, and the intricately interwoven void and solid through wild and unruly traces of Western Modernism. They entwine into Zao’s own lyrical abstraction that is beyond profound, making him an eminent figure in Western lyrical abstraction.
Born in Beijing, China, Zao Wou-ki was classically trained in the tradition of Hangzhou National College of Art. He studied after Lin Fengmian, the principal, and Wu Dayu. By 1941, at the age of 21, Zao already held his first solo exhibition in Chongqing. Lin Fengmian, who was a father figure to Zao, urged him to study in France, so in 1948, he moved to Paris with his wife, Xie Jinglan. It was in Paris where Zao became acquainted with the local art scene and thirst-quenchingly learned from all schools. He was keen to the Spanish Romantic painter Goya, and the Renaissance artist Rembrandt, especially Rembrandt’s masterful control of texture as well as light and shadow. He was also in aw with Fauvism’s bold use of color, and the avant-garde Cubism, which reconstructs reality with dissected planes and fragmented motions. It was this prismatic world that inspired the abstract genes in Zao.
In the 1950s, Zao attempted to draw inspirations from the tradition. An encounter with Paul Klee’s paintings during a trip to the US served the purpose. Zao removed the figurative symbols from his paintings, giving his spellbinding pieces from the Paul Klee Period geometric structure and poetic beauty. The ensuing Oracle Bone Period draws inspiration from the enigmatic ancient inscriptions, which took on new meanings in Zao’s hands. Paintings during this period are deeply romantic and rhythmical, with strong influence from the French culture, as Zao himself put it. After 1958, he simply named his paintings after the dates on which they were completed. No longer alluding to nature, his edged closer to purely abstract expression. Zao stated in his autobiography, “I no longer need to create symbols. They are guidelines but also constraints for understanding the painting. I am inspired by what is within me. It changes with my mood and through different colors, I can express them clearly.”
Zao’s Cursive Period spans from 1959 to 1972. Characterized by an even wilder and grander approach, the period epitomized the culmination of his life journey, the peak of his physical and mental being as well as his extraordinary career. It was a period of a broader probe into his inner transformation, and a pivotal parting from the philosophical Oracle Bone Period. Pieces from this period are also among the most collected by museums and connoisseurs around the world. Zao once thus described himself from that period, “I was moving forward at full speed during those 10 years, like driving a fast car.” It was during those 10 years that 01.04.63 was born.
During the Cursive Period, Zao was at the prime of his life. Invitations for exhibition flooded in from worldwide. At this time, his creative energy was nourished by romantic love, and vice versa. The raving passion ignited his ambition, catalyzing his art with power and momentum which he unleashed without holding back. “I dare say my painting is a romantic one. It brings me the greatest happiness. The most powerful happiness is painting itself.” What he encapsulated on canvas is the energy of life, the revolving fusion and diffusion of the air, wind, form and color. His fierce strokes whirl upwards, giving birth to a brand new central-axis composition that would become Zao’s signature for years to come.
01.04.63 was completed in 1963, during Zao’s pinnacle Cursive Period. In the heart of this central-axis arrangement, restless lines converge and intensify, creating spatial depth. A duet between rapid brushstrokes and pigments generates undulating cadence. Here, Zao veneered the brilliance of golden yellow, a color that is august, regal and decorous, exclusive for the imperial China. In the Book of Changes, “The color of Heaven is azure, and earth yellow.” The intense blue represents the sky, and the earth is represented by yellow, out of which all beings flourish in infinity. In 01.04.63, yellow and black strokes flow lyrically like the water ink, reflecting the philosophical ideology where heaven and man are as one, and all is unoccupied and undisturbed. The imagery is one that is profoundly literary and poetic.
01.04.63 is set elegantly in the radiant yellow, emitting optimism and poise. Splashes of earthly brown layer upon the vastness of space, echoing sublime resonance within the boundless universe. Zao once said, “In my paintings, a lot of spaces are left empty. However, as oil paint does not splash as easily as ink, I actually work more meticulously on the empty spaces than the occupied spaces. The ever-flowing, cadenced rhythm resulting from the interaction between the real and the virtual in Chinese paintings has inspired me so.” In his paintings, one could detect not merely the rhythmic sway between the void and the solid emblematic of traditional Chinese ink paintings, but also the contrasting light and shadow from chiaroscuro. He let the oil paint personify the fluid, misty and achromatic luminance of ink while the light and colors dazzle, while the two engage in a poetic discourse between the East and West.
The image centers on the intensely dark lines that traverse freely, as though Zao had been amassing this energy, and finally released it onto the canvas. The ascending energy morphs into imposing mountain ridges, pulling the dispersing colors inward and commanding order out of chaos like phoenix raising out of burnt ashes. His meticulous touch is palpable. Zao transcended beyond figurative forms, instead focusing on balancing and contrasting effects in light and space. He focused on the most primitive construct of the artistic lexicons, rendering dramatic divergence of light and dark that is profound and breathtaking. Georges Duby, member of the Académie Française, said, “Once again, Chinese artistic elements emerge ambiguously in Zao Wou-ki’s paintings. The interchange of forms within his compositions and the emptiness surrounding the centers in all four sides create strong contrasts between solid and void. The sensations of carefreeness, substance, light and darkness, sharpness, and forcefulness originate in the vast mountains and oceans of traditional Chinese landscape painting. The strong emotions, fleeting beauty, and lamentations of life originate in the flowing rivers and fleeting clouds of Chinese paintings. Yet within these contrasts we find a balance that gives birth to a mood of harmony.” Hidden beneath the effortless strokes is a composed backbone meandering through like the cursive strokes. It reverberates with all its vigor and allure, climaxing at the amorphous spiritual crescendo and bursting with the poetic force of life.
French art historian, Daniel Marchesseau, once remarked, “Zao Wou-Ki places nature as the central idea of his art, enabling ancient traditions to confront the art of masters from the past and present in the West. While influenced by two drastically different visualities, he was fortunate in bringing harmonious synergy between Chinese–style composition and the rich colors of the West.” Zao’s abstract strokes flow with the magnificent velocity of calligraphy and inspirational streams of Eastern philosophy. Yet, all is accomplished so organically through the potent saturation of oil paint without traces of superfluity.
Zao roamed the ultimate abstract with extraordinary focus. He melted the divide between East and West; between present and past. By deliberately peeling away all identifiable attributes from nature, it was his intent to move beyond the finitude of time and space; to break free from the restriction of objective reality; to embrace the nature within him without any pretentiousness, which coincides with the philosophical thinking of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Master architect I. M. Pei once said, “It is no exaggeration to say that Zao Wou-Ki is one of the greatest artists in the contemporary art scene in Europe.” In Zao’s powerful strokes lies a harmonious encounter between East and West. They flow and glow in the vast universe, solidifying for him undeniable pres
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