Zao Wou-Ki

Zao Wou-Ki was a pivotal figure in 20th-century art history and a leading pioneer of abstract art in Asia. His works are held in the public collections of over 150 art institutions across more than 20 countries, including renowned museums such as the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Louvre in Paris, and the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art.

Zao moved to Paris in 1947, where he drew inspiration from the city’s art scene. In the early stages of his career, his style was heavily influenced by Western modernism, Impressionism, and Expressionism. At the same time, he became fascinated with the Oracle Bone Script of China’s Shang Dynasty, incorporating simple, primitive, rock-painting-like characters into his works in the 1950s. After 1960, his art became more abstract, moving away from the detailed focus of his Oracle Bone period toward a bolder, more powerful style.

After his initial encounter with Western modern art, Zao had resisted the traditional rules of Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting. However, in his later years, he returned to the ink wash techniques he had learned in China, creating works that celebrated both Chinese tradition and Western abstract concepts.

Zao rarely offered specific explanations for his abstract paintings or discussed how much Eastern or Western philosophy they contained. Instead, he preferred to let viewers freely explore the vast spaces of color and brushstrokes he created. Starting in 1958, he even stopped giving his works titles, simply naming them “Untitled,” “Abstract,” or by the date they were created. He felt his career had reached a significant turning point where he was looking inward, and he wanted to avoid steering the viewer’s experience with a specific name. As he once said, “Painting is a very difficult thing. You have to be focused and you have to be able to endure loneliness. All I can do is keep painting with my heart. As for how it turns out or what it expresses, that’s for you, the viewers, to think about and criticize.”

Zao was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2005, which, along with related complications, put an end to his artistic career. He spent his final years in Switzerland and passed away in 2013 at the age of 93.