Zao Wou-Ki (Zhao Wuji)

Acquired directly from the artist
Patti Birch Gallery, New York
Patti Birch Trust
Sotheby's, Paris, 26 May, 2008, lot 19
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

This work is in overall good condition. There is slight undulation across the surface. Under UV examination, minor signs of retouching can be seen near the middle of the upper border and near the bottom left corner.
"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."

Festive and Boisterous, a Feast of Imageries

Zao Wou-Ki’s Masterpiece Sans titre  

 

 

Different places emerge from the painting, as if the artist was longing to present different domains through which he had visited. After the war, he travelled extensively around Europe, in the continuous journey, he captured all he saw and experienced along the way. He set out to understand Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Britain, he toured Italy, through its many cities and mountains, and experienced first-hand the European landscape. From a subjective silhouette, from the imaginary external images the eyes can perceive, Zao Wou-Ki ventured into the depths of the world.

 

In early 1950, after arriving to Paris for two years, Zao Wou-Ki had become very familiar with the city where he lived. He decided to put down his paintbrushes and went travelling. What he saw along the way was captured in his paintings. Like Retour de pêche (lot 1018), completed in 1952, Sans titre also depicted the sea and ship as the main subject. Nevertheless, the artist adopted a completely different expressive approach, giving the present lot another kind of splendor.

 

Breaking the Boundaries – Beyond Traditional Western Classic Proportions and Perspective

 

Unlike Retour de pêche which employs a single point perspective, Sans titre uses a cavalier perspective (typical of Zao Wou-Ki’s early works) in the entire picture. With black lines that are light and delicate as embroidery, their flow seemingly intermitted yet continuous, the artist reveals to us a world of rich and vivid imageries: boats sailing into the harbour by the mountains, waves gently rocking.  People at the shore open his/ her arms to welcome someone returning home. In here, the artist has broken free from the rules of traditional Western painting proportion. In the middle of the picture, the viewer can see the person standing on the boat, yet his body is almost half as long as the boat under his feet. He opens his warms to express excitement. In here, the actual proportion becomes unimportant. What the artist wanted to express was a psychological state. In the eyes of the one waiting at the shore, the person on the boat is infinitely important and large in his hearts, and they only had each other in their eyes, eagerly anticipating the reunion in just a moment later.

 

Furthermore, the painting did not employ the single point perspective in Western landscape paintings, but rather a unique multiple perspectives in traditional Chinese paintings. The artist’s gaze is not fixed at a single place. Instead, it travels back and forth with his footsteps and vision, merging together his observations from different places, be it level, looking from above or below, proposing a spatial reconstruction. A limited space on the canvas thus becomes vast and open, thanks to the artist’s talent in creating space. Just as Zong Bing from the Southern and Northern Dynasties wrote in Introduction to Landscape Painting (Hua Shanshui Xu), “hundreds of miles of distance expressed in several feet of painting”. Every brushstroke is a result of the artist’s consideration, he simplified the external appearance of objects to express their real nature, without taking away the viewer’s understanding and enjoyment of the work in any way. The present lot reminds the viewer of the words by French poet Henri Michaux, a close friend of the artist: “The techniques displayed by Zao Wou-Ki are of course close to those in modern art in the West, yet they were never far away from the essence of Chinese culture, like the murmur of a mother language, it was a road of freedom released from constraints. Using a delicate and meandering brushstroke, the artist reveals in the painting the small boats and people in overlapping layers, crossing over with each other, similar in form yet differing in spirit…like a pipa half covering the face, breaking the lines and making them tremble, a stroll in the courtyard, outlining the unexpected twists and turns with his footsteps, revealing the delicate sensations of wild ideas, this is where Zao Wou-Ki’s heart belongs…suddenly, the painting merged in the orchard of symbols, a bit quirky, trembling with joy, the festive atmosphere quietly arrived, like a celebration in a rural Chinese village.”

 

A Misty Domain

Fertile Soil that Nurtures the World

 

 

A sunny morning in early spring, my spirit is high and I look at the white clouds.

Light is captured to float the jade carriage, a fairy behind a purple haze.

In the ethereal mist I fly into to sky, freely roaming to the heavenly border.

The mortal returns to where his imaginations roam, the colour of the evening sun is auspicious.

Chen Shimu, Song Dynasty

 

In Sans titre, light yellow, bronze green, as well as a contrasting warm orange-red meet on the canvas, infusing into each other, interweaving a piece of fertile soil that can nurture the world, a hazy domain filled with infinite possibilities, as if everything was covered by a thin mist, reminding the viewer of Spring Mountain and Auspicious Pines (Chun Shan Rui Song Tu) by Mi Fu from Song Dynasty. Mi was renowned for his misty and cloud-covered landscape. He used sideway strokes and pale ink rendering to perfectly express the hazy beauty of the mountain mists, while Zao Wou-Ki made use of oil paint to create a similar effect, demonstrating his uniquely Eastern aesthetic ideas with an open domain where the meanings are found beyond words. Just as French art critic Alain Jouffroy said: “Zao Wou-Ki’s works clearly reflect a Chinese point of view towards matters of the universe, the distant and hazy domain portrayed in the painting reflect the spirit of meditation, not the physical matters of meditation.” This is truly a masterpiece you do not forget once you have viewed it.