Untitled (A.121), 1959

Zao Wou-Ki was an abstract painter and émigré to France from Beijing, China. He worked during the post-war period in Europe to create a synthesis of artistic aesthetics from both West and East in his art. He made a home in Paris in 1948 and became a French citizen in 1962. Zao Wou-Ki believed that his artwork reflected the struggle of expressing both his Chinese origins and the influences of Paris and European art traditions. His painting sales reached at least $90 million by the year 2011. Zao Wou-Ki created drawings and paintings that many have said were stylistically similar to that of Abstract Expressionists. He also said that Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso were artists who influenced his works. After 1959, he began to paint only abstracts and stopped naming his works with descriptions. Instead, he used the date of the completed work as its name. He created several works in the form of diptychs and triptychs. One is “01.04.66”. Another is “27.08.82”. These oils on canvas exhibit a visual struggle between order and chaos, which some liken to Daoism. Some describe his use of large areas of color as bringing the world of his imagination into being. In addition to oils on canvas, Zao Wou-Ki also created drawings using India ink or watercolor on paper. These early works have the sensibility of Chinese calligraphy and brush painting in that they are structurally balanced, with movement created by lines and brushstrokes painted with precise intention. However, they also are infused with the abstract expressionist freedom to use space and improvisational placements of dots and lines in complement to and regard for space and composition. Throughout his life, his art was a merging of training and life experiences from the Eastern and Western cultures which were part of his innermost self. (Artist website)