Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji)

Collection of the artist's friend Wang Gongji
Important Private Asian Collection

Taipei, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, China-Paris: Seven Chinese Painters who Studied in France, 1918-1960, 26 March - 26 June 1988, p. 120

Wang Gongji and Zao Wou-Ki, Min Sheng Daily, Taipei, 2 July, 1981

This work is in good condition. Very minor hairline cracks can be seen near the edges. Under UV examination, the work shows signs of restoration mostly along the edges.
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Splendour of a Century

Zao Wou-Ki’s Boundless Vision

1949-1953

 

 

That day, it was cold and sunny in Shanghai. The whole family came to the pier to bid farewell: father, mother, my three sisters, my brother, as well as my uncle and aunt, my first wife Xie Jinglan (Lalan) travelled with me. The plan was to go for two years and then return. I remember the whole family was wearing Western clothing…Father gave me my travel documents, and the family took a photo. We had very few luggages, only some changes of clothes. That was how we set off, to a country where language was a barrier, its customs we understood very little and we had no local contact. My ambition at the time was to go to Paris, to understand painting, to study painting, everything else was not important.

Zao Wou-Ki

 

 

This is Zao Wou-Ki’s recollection of the scene when he left China in February 1948 and his family came to send him off.  Only in his twenties, he had not predicted that after this departure, he would have settled in France, where he welcomed brand new phases of life, formed strong bonds of friendships, made his name in the international art circles, held solo exhibitions at a major gallery such as the Grand Palais in Paris, and reached his career’s highest peak…all these were perhaps unexpected when he first started.

 

As he had said himself, as a young man, Zao Wou-Ki simply wanted to go to Paris to understand and study painting, while everything else was not important. As soon as he arrived in Paris with Lalan and settled down at the hostel, he immediately rushed over to the Louvre. Standing in the vast, dimly-lit gallery, he was in awe. Until then, he who had never seen an original of a Western painting stood completely still in front of the works by Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and Fra Angelico. He said, he finally saw “another kind of paintings” which called for a completely different “way of viewing” compared to traditional Chinese paintings. In the one year and a half that followed, he went to the galleries every day. From old masters to Fauvist and Cubist paintings, he spent up to several days on each piece, deep in thoughts within the vast river of history. He thought about the creative intentions of Western painters, investigated how points and lines form the composition of a painting, as well as topics such as space, lighting and colours. In addition, Zao Wou-Ki was also consiering – what sort of direction should he take for his creative work?

 

In the past, Zao Wou-Ki’s early works were rarely discussed. In the upcoming Sotheby’s auction this autumn, we have the rare opportunity to put together an outstanding series of highlights from the artist’s early period from 1949 to 1953 after he first arrived in France. Through them, we can get to know the thoughts and ideas of the artist as well as the key transitions of his creative career. These works also reveal to us a unique and fascinating glimpse of his life at the time.

 

Extraordinary Elegance and Charm

A Rare Portrait 

 

Completed in 1949, Untitled is a rare gem, painted one year after Zao Wou-Ki’s arrival in France. If one is to investigate representational portrait paintings within the context of Zao’s creative journey, s/he would know that to depict portrait first began during the period when the artist studied at Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. The earliest clue can be found in a photo of the artist’s mother who posed in front of his painting. In the photo, the painting on the wall was also a portrait of a woman. In Zao Wou-Ki’s autobiography, he pointed out that upon graduating from the Academy and began teaching there, he tried to find as much time as possible to paint in addition to his teaching activities. He painted portraits and honed his composition techniques. “On the easel, I felt my way through oil painting. I used locally produced paint and made my own frames. I painted many portraits, those of my sisters, of Lalan, and myself,” he said. Nevertheless, the vast majority of these early portraits created in China had been destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. Surviving examples of portraits by Zao Wou-Ki are extremely rare, with less than 20 pieces, according to the catalogues. This accentuates the rare and precious nature of Untitled.

 

 

Concise Brushstrokes Filled with Spirited Vitality

 

On the canvas, where soft colours are gently rendered, an Asian woman in a pastel colour qipao dress sits in front of us. It can be seen from the present lot that Zao Wou-Ki has moved beyond his earlier unfamiliarity with the medium of oil. Compared to Portrait of Lalan, which was completed between 1935 to 1936, the artist traded the pointillistic and impasto techniques with a new decisiveness and self-assurance, outlining the subject’s silhouette with a confident black outline, which shows the artist’s firm grasp of human body sketches. These lines are continuous and coherent, the subject stands out naturally in front of the background through the manipulation of line weights.  The thin and lightly applied layers of colours successfully create a three-dimensional effect and the sense of depth.  The artist successfully captured the woman’s facial expression and presence of a fleeting moment, behind the rapid application of brushstrokes are years of thoughtful consideration and experiences. The subject looks towards her right-hand side, eyelid slightly lowered, her hands placed across her knees, her gentle and mild nature is perfectly represented here.

 

Originated in the West during the Renaissance period, oil portraits were painted as a service to royalty and nobilities, in praise or remembrance of the subjects. These vividly life-like painting almost offer their subjects a continuation of life, satisfying people’s longing for an eternal existence.  From the iconic figures of the Venetian school, such as Tiziano Vecellio’s 1540 Portrait of a Young Englishman, through to Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan by Rembrandt van Rijn, renowned for his portrait paintings, most portraits adopt a darker background colour scheme to highlight the subjects as the focus of painting. Yet in Untitled, Zao Wou-Ki made use of a light and bright pale-coloured background, a distinct contrast with the typical colour schemes in Western portrait paintings. Zao’s expressions are closer to the aesthetic traditions in the East. For example, in traditional Chinese ink paintings, simplicity and minimalism are sought in the use of colours and lines, “xie yi” (painting the intention) and “xie shen” (painting the spirit) form the focus of the painter’s ideas. The aesthetics of “bu bai” (leaving white) was thus developed. A large white space is often left in the composition, yet it was not empty, but rather an embodiment of the idea that the void accommodates all expressions, offering the viewer a greater freedom of the mind. Upholding the spirit to “paint the intention”, Zao Wou-Ki focused on key details that give life to his human portraits, seeking an accuracy of spirit unhindered by excessive details. Although he did not leave a real white space on his canvas, he deliberately kept a background in which there is no object. As the colours of beige, grey, brown and yellow cross over each other, the work reveals an ancient colour like xuan paper yellowed by age, silently infusing the piece with a unique character and charm that belong to the East.

 

 

An Eternal Symbol of Friendship

 

Who is this elegant and graceful woman in the painting? Research has revealed that she is Ren Yongwen, wife of Wang Gongji, General and Cultural Officer of the Republic of China News Bureau in France. The friendship between Wang Gongji and Zao Wou-Ki transcended their age difference. In Zao’s autobiography, he mentioned that when he and Lalan first arrived in Marseille from China by sea, there was no arrangement for anyone to meet them at the pier. Yet when they came out from the pier, an elderly Chinese gentleman came to take them to the hostel, saying that he was sent by “Mr Wang”. Many years later, Zao still remembered this event vividly. He felt that this was how Chinese people were like - their friendship and warmth were palpable but unspoken. This Mr Wang was really Wang Gongji.

 

Mr Wang was born in a family of diplomats, his father Wang Rongbao served as ambassador to Europe from 1914, as well as Ambassador of China to Belgium and Switzerland. Wang Gongji previously served as government secretary in Shanghai, party secretary of the Nationalist Party’s central government, and assumed the position of General and Cultural Officer of the Republic of China News Bureau in France rom 1945. He also provided French and Japanese interpretations for Chiang Kaishek. Although a diplomat by trade, he is passionate about fine art, and spent his own spare time painting. He often invited overseas Chinese artists in Paris such as Sanyu, Zao Wou-Ki, Lalan, and Pan Yuliang to his home for private parties and gatherings. He had a particularly close friendship with Zao Wou-Ki. When Zao first arrived in France, he went to Wang’s home to eat and chat with Wang and his wife every Sunday, sometimes teaching Wang how to paint. Although Wang left Paris in 1952 to be head of the Chinese Office in Japan, and later Chinese Ambassador of Madagascar , his friendship with Zao Wou-Ki remained as close as before, with frequent exchanges of letters. Each time Zao had an exhibition, or during traditional festivals, he would write to send his regards to Mr and Mrs Wang, whom he referred to as “uncle and aunt”. In 1965, Wang returned to Taiwan to serve as Director of Taiwan Folk Craft Promotion Centre. When Zao visit Taiwan, he visited the Centre and the two took many photos together, their close friendship was apparent. Highly educated, Mrs Wang studied English at the Kobe Women's University. She was fluent in Chinese, English, Japanese and French, and had translated many literary works including the Chinese translation of the beloved children’s story Bambi. She also published original articles in the art and culture section of China Times. Zao Wou-Ki’s Untitled perfectly captures and expresses her elegance and grace. Upon completion, the portrait had been on the wall of the studio in Wang’s family home, serving as witness to this special friendship day by day.

 

In 1988, Untitled was exhibited at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in the exhibition “China-Paris: Seven Chinese Painters who Studied in France, 1918-1960”. A representative work among Zao Wou-Ki’s rarely found early portraits, the present piece boosts a clear provenance and it has been well documented in literature, it is truly a precious opportunity for collectors and art lovers for it to appear in auction this time.