- 13
Zao Wou-Ki
Estimate
2,200,000 - 3,200,000 EUR
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Description
- Zao Wou-Ki
- 21.03.69
- signed, signed in Chinese; signed, titled and dated 21.3.69 on the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 130 x 81 cm; 51 3/16 x 31 7/8 in.
- Executed in 1969.
Provenance
Galerie de France, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
Vallauris, Galerie Madoura, Zao Wou-Ki, 13 April - 31 May1979; catalogue, no. 3
Montauban, Musée Ingres, Zao Wou-Ki ou se libérer du connu, 25 June - 16 October 1983; catalogue no. 27
Montauban, Musée Ingres, Zao Wou-Ki ou se libérer du connu, 25 June - 16 October 1983; catalogue no. 27
Literature
Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, Paris, 1978, p. 297, no. 391, illustrated
Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, New York, 1979, p. 297, no. 391, illustrated
Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, Paris, 1986, p. 337, no. 423, illustrated
Pierre Daix, Zao Wou-Ki, l'oeuvre 1935-1993, Neuchâtel, 1994, p. 115, illustrated in colour
Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, New York, 1979, p. 297, no. 391, illustrated
Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-Ki, Paris, 1986, p. 337, no. 423, illustrated
Pierre Daix, Zao Wou-Ki, l'oeuvre 1935-1993, Neuchâtel, 1994, p. 115, illustrated in colour
Condition
The colours are fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration. Please refer to the Contemporary Art department for a professional condition report.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
“Zao Wou-Ki moves through the cracks, the gaps, in an un-thought world, in a pared-down world before traditions, but with their weapons, their eyes. A rupestrian world where he summons the world above and where he draws out a new light.” Dominique de Villepin
Zao Wou-Ki’s painting is both universal and profoundly Chinese. Halfway between the Orient and the West, his work can be equally linked to the immemorial line of the great painting of his country of origin and the lyrical abstraction which flourished after the Second World War in his adopted country. At the age of fourteen Zao Wou-Ki enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy of Hangzhou where he learnt traditional techniques whilst admiring the works of Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse that he discovered on postcards. He built himself up upon a duality that was to give his work an incredible depth of soul.
It took Zao Wou-Ki almost twenty years before he succeeded in reconciling the two contrary passions that inhabited him in his training years. On March 21st 1969, when he completed this masterful composition, Zao Wou-Ki was finally free. Free to shift from the void of fullness in the manner of the Songs and paint with oil like Europeans. By dint of work and research, he finally came close to his own light by accepting the inheritance of his ancestors given to him by the teachings of his professors form the Fine Arts academy of Hangzhou but also by his paternal grandfather, a scholar of the Qing Empire.
After the initial break, the original commotion gave way to the unity of the world. Thus we gaze upon the perfect symbiosis of Song landscapes which Zao Wou-Ki appreciated for their floating and elementary aspect and Rembrandt’s paintings which he admired for “the movements of the brush”, building “a rich, complex space that is at the same time economical”. As he explains in his memoires written in collaboration with Françoise Marquet, the 1960s were a blessed period for him. At the height of his art, Zao Wou-Ki had “vanquished the surface of the world" and penetrated his own heart. It was only then that his souvenirs of another era, that of his childhood, “before the Flood” as Dominique de Villepin says in a beautiful text on the artist entitled Le Labyrinthe des Lumières, could emerge from his paintings like vibrant invitations to travel. Travel in time and space, in search of a world of internal and celestial forms masterfully depicted in 21 mars 1969.
In this painting which, as mentioned above, symbolises a veritable reconciliation between China and the West, awaited in Chinese painting for over a century, according to the words of François Cheng in L’ultime bonheur de peindre de Zao Wou-Ki, the artist probed movement. With his nuanced palette and his unique, luminous path reinforced by the dynamic of colours which feed off each other, 21 mars 1969 incites contemplation. Lacking a fixed reference point, the gaze is constantly shifting, awaiting a revelation. Should one move from darkness to light? Or from light to darkness? By skilfully distilling haloes of pure light and opaque shadows, Zao Wou-Ki brings something sacred to this work. Always perfectionist, the artist here again employs one of the essential contributions of classical Chinese art building on layered veils thus bringing an aura of mystery to an abstract work which could depict the sky of one of the world’s first mornings. Because, one must not forget, “what is abstract for you is real for me” as Zao Wou-Ki once said.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Fondation Zao Wou-Ki. The work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné currently being prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen. It is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Zao Wou-Ki’s painting is both universal and profoundly Chinese. Halfway between the Orient and the West, his work can be equally linked to the immemorial line of the great painting of his country of origin and the lyrical abstraction which flourished after the Second World War in his adopted country. At the age of fourteen Zao Wou-Ki enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy of Hangzhou where he learnt traditional techniques whilst admiring the works of Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse that he discovered on postcards. He built himself up upon a duality that was to give his work an incredible depth of soul.
It took Zao Wou-Ki almost twenty years before he succeeded in reconciling the two contrary passions that inhabited him in his training years. On March 21st 1969, when he completed this masterful composition, Zao Wou-Ki was finally free. Free to shift from the void of fullness in the manner of the Songs and paint with oil like Europeans. By dint of work and research, he finally came close to his own light by accepting the inheritance of his ancestors given to him by the teachings of his professors form the Fine Arts academy of Hangzhou but also by his paternal grandfather, a scholar of the Qing Empire.
After the initial break, the original commotion gave way to the unity of the world. Thus we gaze upon the perfect symbiosis of Song landscapes which Zao Wou-Ki appreciated for their floating and elementary aspect and Rembrandt’s paintings which he admired for “the movements of the brush”, building “a rich, complex space that is at the same time economical”. As he explains in his memoires written in collaboration with Françoise Marquet, the 1960s were a blessed period for him. At the height of his art, Zao Wou-Ki had “vanquished the surface of the world" and penetrated his own heart. It was only then that his souvenirs of another era, that of his childhood, “before the Flood” as Dominique de Villepin says in a beautiful text on the artist entitled Le Labyrinthe des Lumières, could emerge from his paintings like vibrant invitations to travel. Travel in time and space, in search of a world of internal and celestial forms masterfully depicted in 21 mars 1969.
In this painting which, as mentioned above, symbolises a veritable reconciliation between China and the West, awaited in Chinese painting for over a century, according to the words of François Cheng in L’ultime bonheur de peindre de Zao Wou-Ki, the artist probed movement. With his nuanced palette and his unique, luminous path reinforced by the dynamic of colours which feed off each other, 21 mars 1969 incites contemplation. Lacking a fixed reference point, the gaze is constantly shifting, awaiting a revelation. Should one move from darkness to light? Or from light to darkness? By skilfully distilling haloes of pure light and opaque shadows, Zao Wou-Ki brings something sacred to this work. Always perfectionist, the artist here again employs one of the essential contributions of classical Chinese art building on layered veils thus bringing an aura of mystery to an abstract work which could depict the sky of one of the world’s first mornings. Because, one must not forget, “what is abstract for you is real for me” as Zao Wou-Ki once said.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Fondation Zao Wou-Ki. The work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné currently being prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen. It is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.