Zao Wou-Ki

Beauregard

1981

Etching and aquatint, 1989 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 45/99 Publisher : Poligrafa (Barcelone) Printer : Poligrafa (Barcelone) Catalog : Agerup 339 56.00 cm. x 75...

Etching, 1972 Handsigned by the artist in pencil and numbered 4/26 Publisher : Editions Galanis (Paris) Printer : Bellini (Paris) Catalog : Moestrup 233 38.00 cm. x 28.00 cm. 14.96 ...

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...

The 1968 original lithography by Zao Wou-Ki, titled "Composition Agerup 183," stands as a testament to the artist's extraordinary talent and unique artistic vision. With a limited ed...