Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji)

signed in pinyin and Chinese; signed in pinyin, titled and dated 25.6.86 on the reverse

Galerie Heyram, Paris
Important Private European Collection

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of minor craquelure along the top edge, 45 cm from the right edge of the canvas. There is no evidence of restoration under UV.
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This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Archives Zao Wou-Ki.

In the 1980s, Zao Wou-Ki's artistic achievement and international renown reached yet another pinnacle. In 1981, his first solo exhibition was mounted at the illustrious Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. Not only did this mark an important milestone for Zao as an artist but it was also significant for him as an overseas Chinese living in France. Zao broke through the confines of his Chinese identity and  background to become an artist widely recognized in the international arena. Because of his outstanding creativity, far-reaching connotations and inspiration, the Society for International Cultural Exchange brought Zao's works to five important museums in Japan, the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and Singapore's National Museum of Modern Art from 1981 to 1982. This touring exhibition boosted Zao's reputation throughout Asia. In autumn 1983, China's Ministry of Culture invited the artist to offer an exhibition in his motherland. For the first time, highlights of Zao's output from 1948 to the 1980s were on display in Beijing's China Art Gallery (now the National Art Museum of China) and Hangzhou's National Academy of Fine Arts, respectively. Without a doubt, Zao's artistic reputation and achievements have been acknowledged. Having received such accolades, Zao enjoyed a renewed burst of artistic energy as he delved into his art with even more abandon. No matter his choice of colours and brushstrokes, we can detect an acute sensitivity, steadfastness, confidence, and a carefree vitality. And in the work that was completed in June of 1986 entitled 25.06.86, viewers are bedazzled by the radiance of a man soaring high.

In 1986, Zao began to create vertically-aligned tripartite compositions, the first of which was his Hommage à Henri Matisse I-02.02.86, completed in February1. Zao described his work as a tribute to the older master's Portefenêtre à Collioure2. To the younger artist, the original work reveals "a door—empty and full at the same time—[where] there is life, dust, the air you breathe. But what is happening behind it? It is an immense black space. For us all, it is an open door onto real painting." Zao utilizes a similarly large canvas, capturing his emotional response to Matisse's use of colour and space. In June of that year, when he revisited the tripartite compositional form, Zao has already projected well beyond a mere tribute to the Western master. In 25.06.86 we find maturity, deeper resonance and rich emotions cast in Zao's unique visual vocabulary.

On canvas, Zao concentrates his efforts on layers upon layers of delicate colours: dark purples that seem to suspend in mid-air are placed side by side with deep azure, juxtaposed with vaporous, light grey hues resembling a waterfall, perhaps also symbolizing a luminous entrance into another world. Hazy greys appear in contrast to cobalt blues and metallic browns, infiltrating and expanding in relation to each other, as if currents ebb and flow. Covered with a copper sheen, as if driven by solar power, golden yellow specks inject warmth onto the canvas. We can sense that nuanced touch as Zao wields his brush, just as we follow the breaths of an artist as he controls the flow of time: whether in welding metal or in creating music. The sky is the limit, and horizons are no longer separated by East or West. Zao Wou-Ki, through such grand gestures emanating from his spiritual core, takes us to an infinite space, inviting our imaginations to spread their wings. The scene on the canvas does not correspond with a real place; it resembles a landscape imagined by the poet.

25.06.86 reminds us of Jin dynasty literatus Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Land: "In the year of Taiyuan during the Jin Dynasty, there lived a man in Wuling who earned his living by fishing. One day, he rowed his boat along a stream, unaware of how far he had gone when all of a sudden, he found himself in the midst of a wood full of peach blossoms. The wood extended several hundred footsteps along both banks of the stream. There were no trees of other kinds. The lush green grass was fresh and gorgeous, and peach blossom petals covered the ground. The fisherman was so curious that he rowed on, in hopes of discovering where the trees would end. At the end of the wood was the fountainhead of the stream and a hill, where there is a small opening from which issued a glimmer of light. He stepped ashore to explore the crevice. His first steps took him into a passage that barely accommodated one person. After his progressed several steps, it suddenly widened into an open field." Zao Wou-Ki douses youthfulness and imagination onto his canvas. Through quiet observation and thoughtful reflection, we explore the peach blossom land amidst a light breeze, guided by the artist. We repose, unfettered by worldly matters, in that imaginary kingdom where music is in the air and a misty horizon appears at the meeting of mountains and rivers.