A t least 35 paintings by Zao Wou-ki have sold for over $1 million.
When leaving China for France in 1948, Zao and his wife La-lan embarked on a 36-day voyage at sea from Shanghai to Marseille.
In 2018, Zao’s "Juin-Octobre 1985" sold for $65 million, a record for the artist and the highest price ever paid for an oil painting by an Asian artist.
Zao produced 7 paintings while visiting his brother in Montclair New Jersey in 1957, the trip during which he first encountered Gottlieb, Kline, and Guston.
In 1957, Zao produced 4 etchings for Les Compagnons dans les Jardin (Companions in the Garden), René Char’s work of the same year; the pair remained close friends until the poet’s death in 1988.
Zao lived in Hong Kong for 6 months in 1958, where he met his second wife Chan May-Kan.
In 1977, Zao exhibited 14 large-format paintings at the Fuji Television Gallery in Tokyo.
One of his largest works, 04.01.79, is over 98 inches high and 102 inches wide.
In 1964, Zao painted an homage to his close friend composer Edgar Varese, 1 year before the musician’s death.
Zao’s works can be found in over 150 public collections around the world.
Zao taught at the School of Fine Arts in Hangzhou for 6 years after graduating in 1941.
Zao died at the age of 93 in 2013, following a dazzling international career.
