50 Years New in Asia: The Boundless Horizon of Zao Wou-Ki

How are the sun and moon attached?
How are the constellations arrayed?The sun emerges from the morning vale,
It comes to rest on the crepuscular horizon.
From dawn until dusk,
How many miles does it travel?
What virtue hath the moon,
That it dies and then is reborn again?

-- Excerpt from Qu Yuan’s Heavenly Questions (translation by Victor Mair)

Heavenly Questions is a poem attributed to Qu Yuan of the Warring States period and reflects his pursuit of truth. In it, the poet asks questions about the sun, moon, and other celestial bodies, the interchange between yin and yang forces, and myths about gods and deities. With its grand vision, the poem inspired later investigations of nature. Zao Wou-Ki was fascinated with stars and the heavens throughout his career. As early as 1955, he created Hommage à Chu-Yun to express his admiration for the ancient poet and his curiosity about the universe. At the peak of his creative powers in 1999, Zao Wou-Ki was again inspired by celestial phenomena to create 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse (Lot 1024). Measuring 2.5 metres in height, this monumental Infinity Period masterpiece was a summation of a passion that motivated Zao for half a century.

11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse pictures a vast and bright opening underneath an arch-formation, reflecting Zao’s optimism about his life and thriving career at the time. In the 1980s, he found success and recognition in the international art world, organizing solo exhibitions in Europe, the United States, and Asia, including one at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1981—his first solo exhibition at a national museum in France. During the same period, Zao painted a series of works that explored his relationship with the Western painting tradition and expressed his admiration for and inspiration by Impressionist masters, including Hommage à Henri Matisse of 1986 and Hommage à Claude Monet, février-juin 91 – Triptyque of 1991. In 1883, Claude Monet spent a month in the fishing village of Étretat near his home region of Normandy, observing the appearances of the village’s coastal rock formations under different lighting conditions. This gave rise to the Étretat series, of which the huge arch of Manneporte is the most recognisable motif. Zao Wou-Ki’s Hommage à Claude Monet  pictures a similar arch-like form in homage to the French master. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, this geological marvel continued to inspire Zao, as is evident in 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse. This clearly identifies Impressionist masters as a key source of Zao’s late “abstract landscapes.”

Whereas Zao Wou-Ki’s compositions of the Hurricane Period tend to concentrate energy centripetally, his later abstract landscapes are capacious and open. The amorphous arch in 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse dramatize a powerful, nearly cosmogonic process. To express his confident and expansive spirit, Zao during this period began to paint on enormous, two-meter-tall canvases and often painted in diptychs and triptychs, creating monumental works for his increasingly frequent solo exhibitions at museums. Thus far, no more than ten of these single-canvas abstract landscapes measuring two meters have appeared in auction. At 2.5 meters in height, 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse is a virtuosic and consummate expression of Zao’s capacious spirit. He constructs an arch across the top part of the painting in dark blue and green, creating an open space in the middle in light green and bluish purple. Light blue, purple, and green are echoes of Monet’s waterlily series. Known for their careful attention to the effects of light and color, the Impressionist masters applied pigments in dots to depict chromatic complexity. Evidently inspired by their example, Zao Wou-ki here also employs the ink painting techniques of splashing and flicking pigments to create dynamic and layered dots, which add volumetric dimension and accentuate chromic variation.

International travel and exposure in the 1980s and 90s led Zao Wou-Ki to contemplate the commonalities between Chinese and Western artistic traditions. Visiting the National Palace Museum in Taipei in 1983, Zao met master Chinese ink painter Zhang Daqian for the last time, which prompted another artistic transformation. Zhang’s signature landscapes with splashed blue and green pigments embody the traditional Chinese aesthetics of unfettered freedom and encompassing universality. Echoing the blue-green landscape tradition in its periphery, 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse continues this aesthetics in its splashy application of pigments, which are allowed to flow and drip on the canvas and form a strong contrast with the carefully applied dots at the center.

Zao Wou-ki’s love of nature was evident already in his early work. During his Oracle Bone period (the 1940s to the early 1950s), he often painted the sun and the moon. Hommage à Chu-Yun of 1955 was one of his early experiments in combining abstract painting and Chinese characters. Although predating 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse by decades, this painting anticipates the latter in its arch-like formation, with a red passage at the center resembling the sun symbolizing Qu Yuan’s fearless questioning of heaven. Half a century later and now as a fully mature abstract painter, Zao revisits the motifs of the sun and the moon in 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse, which was painted after the total solar eclipse of 11th August, 1999 and documented his fascination with natural phenomena. Zao once said that colors could be accurately perceived only under natural light. His experience of colors during the solar eclipse, both in the world and on the canvas, must have been drastically altered and provided an important creative impetus. The capacious opening under the arch and the strong chromatic contrasts in 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse registers this otherworldly experience, as well as the subsequent dramatic return of sunlight. Much as Monet had recorded in minute detail the varying lighting conditions at the Manneporte, Zao here renders the uncanny transformations of the world when the moon temporarily occluded the sun.

Zao Wou-Ki enjoyed global renown in the 1990s, mounting major retrospective exhibitions in Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, Mexico, Spain, and other places and earning numerous international awards. In 2002, to commemorate his election to the Académie française that year, the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris organised an important retrospective exhibition, including representative works from every phase of his career from the 1940s onwards. Among them were 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse and Hommage à Chu-Yun. The exhibition was very important for Zao Wou-ki, who attended it in person as an octogenarian and had a photographic portrait taken with none other than 11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse. The photographer, Guillaume de Laubier, also captured Zao with this painting in his suburban studio. In Zao’s cheerful expression, we sense clearly the pride and joy that this masterpiece brought to its creator.

日月安屬？列星安陳？
出自湯谷，次於蒙氾。
自明及晦，所行幾裏？
夜光何德，死則又育？
——節選自 屈原 《天問》

《天問》出自戰國詩人屈原筆下，詩中凝聚他對日月星辰、陰陽變化、乃至神話傳說的探索，反映他追求真理的精神。此蕩氣迴腸之作激發了後世對於大自然的探索。趙無極同樣對自然日月星辰充滿好奇，並貫徹他的創作生涯。早在1955年，他創作《向屈原致敬》，即可見他對戰國文學巨匠的敬仰以及宇宙精神的探索；1999年，藝術創作精湛，更就天文現象的啟發，創作尺幅高達兩米半的「無境時期」鉅作《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》（拍品編號 1024），將藝術家逾半世紀的豐厚創作靈感源泉凝聚於畫布上。

《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》以構築外圍、中間放空的「拱門式」構圖建造出廣闊開放的畫面，反映出藝術家此時的豁然開朗的心境及節節晉升的事業。自八〇年代起，趙無極在國際藝壇上的事業與成就開啟了新的篇章，他在歐、美、亞洲接連舉辦個展，其中1981年巴黎大皇宮博物館為趙無極舉辦的個展更是他在法國國家級美術館舉辦的首個個展。與此同時，趙無極創作一系列作品梳理自己與西方藝術的聯繫，包括1986年創作的《向馬蒂斯致敬》以及1991年的《向莫內致敬（三聯作）-1991年2月至6月》。這一系列作品表達出趙無極對眾印象派大師的崇敬，更是體現藝術家從印象派作品中涉取的靈感。1883年，克勞德·莫內在家鄉諾曼底的漁村埃特雷塔居住近一個月。在此，他觀察到海岸邊的獨特岩石地形在不同光影照耀下呈現千變萬化的姿態，便以此創作了「埃特雷塔」風景系列，其中「象鼻海岸」更是此系列中標誌性的元素。《向莫內致敬（三聯作）-1991年2月至6月》中便以此經典風景元素致敬印象派大師莫內。在八〇、九〇年代的藝術創作中，此獨特的岩石地形似乎持續為趙無極的藝術創作帶來靈感與啟發。《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》的「拱門式」構圖與象鼻岩的形態如出一轍，清晰反映出趙無極「無境時期」創作的西方藝術靈感源泉。

與「狂草時期」將能量聚焦在畫中央的構圖不同，「無境時期」的畫作呈現的是渾然大氣，豁然開朗的氣魄；「拱門式」構圖正能體現出此浩大的氣勢。為突顯此時的心境及氣魄，藝術家大膽啟用近兩米的大尺幅畫布，更常用雙聯屏、三聯屏等形式為與日俱增的個展創造出美術館館藏級別的鉅作。拍場上尺幅逾兩米的「無境時期」單幅畫布作品至今僅有少於十幅作品登上拍場，而《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》尺幅高達兩米半，更是將藝術家此時磅礴大氣的藝術風格和忘我的創作狀態表現得淋漓盡致。趙無極在畫作的上、左、右側用深藍色及綠色鑄造出拱形結構，從而打開畫中央，用淡綠、藍紫營造一個開放空間。淡藍、紫、綠色調與莫內的《睡蓮》中的色調相互呼應，藝術家更是用甩墨、彈墨的技巧繪出點創的色彩。彩色點的重疊為畫面添加層次感以及立體感，更突顯光影的妙曼多變的特色。以研究光影及色彩著稱的印象派中，亦有不少大師運用點彩技巧來描繪複雜的色彩，由此可見趙無極在此時期以十九世紀大師的創作為靈感，結合自身對抽象藝術領悟所達到的嶄新形態。

1980、90年代與日俱增的國際遊歷使得趙無極更深入地思考貫徹中、西藝術的共通點。1983年趙無極前往台灣故宮博物館參觀，在台北最後一次與國畫大師張大千見面，此次會面促成了趙無極藝術創作上的再一次蛻變。張大千畫中標誌性的藍綠山水，以及獨特的潑墨潑彩技巧，將中國傳統文化中不拘一格、包羅萬象的精神發揮的淋漓盡致。《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》「拱門式」構圖的外圍結構以藍綠色構成，不僅在用色上呼應傳統青綠山水，更是以此貫徹了國畫中大山大水的磅礴氣勢。藝術家用近乎潑墨的技法繪出大片色彩，讓色彩在畫布上不受拘束地流動，與畫面中央細膩的點彩形成鮮明的對比。

趙無極對大自然的熱愛在他早期作品中已有跡可循。自1940年代至1950年代前期，趙無極的具象及「甲骨文時期」作品中有不少繪有太陽與月亮，足以可見藝術家對自然元素及現象的熱愛。創作於1955年的《向屈原致敬》體現出趙無極創作早期對抽象與中國傳統文字的結合與探索。此作雖創作於五〇年代，但畫作的構圖卻無獨有偶與日後構築外圍、中間放空的「拱門式」結構相互呼應，而畫中央的一簇火紅仿佛一輪紅日，展現出屈原《天問》般仰天長問的凌雲氣概。經過近半世紀的蛻變及成長，趙無極再用一位成熟抽象大師的角度重新審視「日月」這一創作靈感源泉。《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》於1999年8月11日的日全食後創作，紀錄了趙無極對此自然現象的著迷。趙無極曾表明，只有在白天的自然光下，看顏色才能準確。因此當地球、月亮與太陽形成一線，月亮遮擋了來自太陽的所有光線形成日全食時，藝術家眼中的色彩、畫布上的顏料，都將迎來意想不到的轉變，亦為他的藝術創作帶來一連串新的探索。《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》中豁然開朗的拱門結構，以及強烈的深淺色彩對比捕捉了日全食妙曼神秘的磁場，以及日全食後，太陽重浴大地的光景。一如用畫紀錄不同日光下瞬息萬變「象鼻海岸」的莫內一般，趙無極亦用他的畫布記錄下日全食下變化無窮的色彩世界。

1990年代是趙無極在國際藝壇上享譽盛名的時期，他在台灣、上海、北京、墨西哥、西班牙等地舉辦了回顧展，亦在全球榮獲不少榮譽稱號。2002年，趙無極被選為法蘭西學院藝術學院院士，巴黎國立網球現代美術館亦為慶祝此殊榮，在2003年舉辦〈趙無極〉重要回顧展，展出藝術家自四〇年代起各時期的代表性作品，而《11.08.99 - Après l'éclipse》正是其中一幅，恰巧與《向屈原致敬》一同展出。趙無極對此展十分重視，當時已年過八十的他親臨展廳，更是留下一張珍貴的與本拍片的同框照。爾攝影師Guillaume de Laubier更攝得趙無極在郊外工作室內與本作的合照，藝術家眉目間顯露欣喜神情，可見他對此作的重視以及對多年藝術造詣的自豪。