Zao Wou-Ki - Chinese-French (1920-2013)
Born in Beijing, Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013) worked predominantly in oil, watercolor and ink, but also experimented with engraving and lithography. Wou-Ki means ‘no limits’ in Chinese – a prescient forename for an artist who em- braced different cultural identities without ever being beholden to one. In 1948, Zao relocated to Paris. The French capital was an inspiration for Zao, who had idolized Matisse and Picasso in his formative years and continued to be influenced by Western modernism and the work of the Impressionists and Expressionists.
Zao is considered to have been one of the most successful painters born in China of his generation, with his paint- ings widely recognized as an exemplary reconciliation of Chinese and Western aesthetics, in which the language of modern Western abstraction is enriched by a Chinese chord deeply rooted in the past. Zao’s work has been celebrated in numerous museum shows around the world, including most recently the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, France; the Asia University Museum of Modern Art, Taichung, Taiwan; Asia Society Museum, New York, USA; and STPI, Singapore, amongst several others.