An Original Watercolour on Paper and Two Black and White Lithographs accompanying a Set of Lecture par Henri Michaux de Huit Lithographies de Zao Wou-Ki

When Henri Michaux discovered Zao Wou-Ki through these eight lithographs, he enthusiastically wrote eight poems in appreciation of them. Establishing for the first time a new creative sequence where image precedes text, this triggered the publication of the present artist's book, published by Robert Godet and Mr Chou Ling, director of Editions Euros in Paris. The current "Hors Commerce" edition of this historical book is personally dedicated to Chou Ling himself and is exceptionally enriched with an additional original watercolour and two signed black and white lithographs, probably meant as a gift to the publisher. This unique and unrecorded combination of an original work with an artist's book attests for the close partnership between the artist and Chou Ling. Lecture (Lot 423) is the first of a long series of collaborations between the artist and poets of his time, propelling Zao Wou-Ki to the rank of an interdisciplinary artist well integrated in the Parisian art scene.