This artwork titled "Spectral Vision" 1970, is an original color lithograph by renown Chinese/American artist Zao Woo Ki, 1921-2013. It is hand signed and inscribed H.C. (Hors Commerce) in pencil by the artist. The image size is 17.25 x 24.5 inches, framed size is 32.65 x 39 inches. Custom framed in a wooden silver frame, with silver color spacer and fabric matting. It is in excellent condition.
About the artist:
Zao Woo Ki was born in Beijing with family roots in Dantu, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. In his childhood he was brought back to his hometown Dantu where he studied calligraphy. From 1935 to 1941, he studied painting at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, where he was taught by Lin Fengmian, Fang Ganmin and Wu Dayu. In 1948, he went with his wife Lan-lan, a composer, to Paris to live on the same block in Montparnasse where the classes of Émile Othon Friesz took place. His earliest exhibitions in France were met with praise from Joan Miró and Picasso.
In 1957, Zao decided to visit the United States where his younger brother Chao Wu-Wai was living in Montclair, New Jersey, close to the art scene of New York City. He wanted to learn more about "pop art". While in the US, he painted seven canvases at his brother's house. There are relatively few items dating from that year (1957). Years later, the largest canvas was given by his brother, Chao Wu-Wai, to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
He left the U.S. after a six-week stay, traveling to Tokyo and then to Hong Kong, where he met his second wife Chan May-Kan
Zao's works, influenced by Paul Klee, are orientated to abstraction. He names them with the date in which he finishes them, and in them, masses of colours appear to materialise a creating world, like a Big Bang, where light structures the canvas. He worked formats in triptychs and diptychs. While his work was stylistically similar to the Abstract Expressionists whom he met while travelling in New York, he was influenced by Impressionism. Zao Wou-Ki stated that he had been influenced by the works of Matisse, Picasso and Cézanne.[
His meetings with Henri Michaux pushed him to review his Indian ink techniques, always based in Chinese traditional drawings. Zao was a member of the Académie des beaux-arts, and was considered to have been one of the most successful Chinese painters during his lifetime.
In 1982, he was invited to paint for the Fragrant Hills Hotel in Beijing, designed by I. M. Pei. In 1983, he returned to his alma mater, the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou to give lectures.
Former French President Jacques Chirac was offered a painting by Zao Wou-Ki by his ministers during their last meeting.
His auction record of HKD 510 million was set at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, on 1 September 2018. Zao's work 'Juin-Octobre 1985' is now the most expensive painting ever to go under the hammer at auction in Hong Kong.
By the end of his life Zao had stopped producing new paintings due to health problems. He died on 9 April 2013 at his home in Switzerland.
Selected public collections and museums:
Vienna, Albertina Museum, Graphische Sammlung
Brussels, Museum of Modern Art
Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
Rio de Janeiro, Museum of Modern Art
Montreal, Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal (Quebec)
Montréal, Museum of Fine Art (Quebec)
Quebec City, National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec (Quebec)
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario (Ontario)
Hangzhou, China Academy of Art
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum of Art
Beijing, China Central Academy of Fine Arts
Suzhou, Suzhou Museum
Helsinki, Ateneum Museum
Tempere, Sara Hildén Art Museum
Châteauroux, Bertrand Museum
Colmar, Unterlinden Museum
Dunkirk, LAAC
Évreux, Museum of Art, History and Archeology
Gravelines, Musée du Dessin et de l’Estampe Originale
Issoudun, Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch
Le Havre, Malraux Museum
Lyons, École normale supérieure
Metz, Museum of Art and History
Montauban, Ingres Museum
Montpellier, Fabre Museum
Nantes, Museum of Fine Art
Orléans, Museum of Fine Art
Paris, L’Adresse – Musée de La Poste
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France
Paris, Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern Art / Industrial Design Center
Paris, Cercle de l’Union Interalliée
Paris, Fonds National d’Art Contemporain
Paris, Institut national d’histoire de l’art
Paris, Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins
Paris, Manufacture Nationale de la Savonnerie
Paris, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
Paris, Mobilier National
Paris, Museum of Modern Art of Paris
Paris, Cernuschi Museum
Paris, Musée du Louvre (at Musée Fabre in Montpellier)
Paris, Schlumberger Ltd.
Paris-La Défense, Société Générale
Paris-La Défense, TOTAL France
Rennes, Museum of Fine Art
Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, Musée Pierre-Noël
Sceaux, Musée de l’Ile-de-France, Château de Sceaux
Tournus, Musée Greuze
Tours, Museum of Fine Art
Tours, Conseil général d’Indre-et-Loire, fourteen windows for La Demeure de Ronsard, La Riche
Valence, Museum of Fine Art and Natural History
Essen, Folkwang Museum
Liverpool, The Tate Gallery
London, The Tate Gallery
London, Victoria and Albert Museum
Jakarta, Jakarta Museum
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum
Genova, Gallery of Modern Art
Milan, Museum of MOdern Art of Milan
Fukuoka, Fukuoka Art Museum
Fukushima, Iwaki City Art Museum
Hakone-Machi, The Hakone Open-Air Museum
Kyoto, Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art
Nagaoka, Nagaoka Contemporary Art Museum
Osaka, National Museum of Art
Tokyo, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation
Luxembourg City, Grand Ducal Collections of the State of Luxembourg
Luxembourg City, National Museum of History and Art
Skopje, Museum of Contemporary Art
Mexico, Centro Cultural/Arte Contemporáneo
Mexico, Museum of Modern Art
Mexico, Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art
Castelo Branco...