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Lot Essay
“Another thing I know is that I enjoy painting more and more, that I’ve got more to say, with the ever-present fear of repeating myself. I paint my own life but I also try to paint an invisible place, that of dreams, somewhere where one feels in perfect harmony, even in the midst of agitated shapes or opposing forces. Every picture, from the smallest to the biggest, is always a fragment of that dream place.” -Zao Wou-Ki
In 1948, influenced by Impressionism, the 28-year-old Zao Wou-Ki moved to Paris— the centre of Western art at the time— and devoted himself to studying painting. From 1949 to 1952, he travelled across Europe and visited countless galleries and museums, where he had extensive exposure to the classics of Western art. In 1951, Zao discovered the work of Paul Klee at museums in Switzerland, and he was deeply influenced by the system of symbols and signs in Klee's paintings. The artist began to ombine line drawing, line cutting and flat wash technique in executing semi-figurative oil paintings. He used one-point perspective or multi-point perspective for spatial organisation in his compositions; the images began to be filled with symbolic motifs and abstract expression, with the colours drifting beyond the images. It saw Zao Wou-Ki starting to establish his artistic style.
24.09.51 (Lot 309) is a epresentative work from this period, and it portrays a cathedral, so often found in French cities. The composition makes use of dramatic perspective to emphasise the tremendous presence of the architecture, and of simple, indistinct lines to depict the contour of the cathedral. Amidst the washes of red, the building loses its materiality in a composition that carries a fairytale-like and dreamy touch, while the iconic French monument is awash in a sacred light. On 15 April 2019, a dramatic fire broke out at the Notre- Dame in Paris, destroying its spire and its wooden roof structure, and causing profound damage to this historical architecture that is an emblem of the brilliant French culture. The fire of Notre Dame reminds us of the value of cultural and historical heritage, and fortunately,24.09.51 captures the glory of such legacy.
In 1948, influenced by Impressionism, the 28-year-old Zao Wou-Ki moved to Paris— the centre of Western art at the time— and devoted himself to studying painting. From 1949 to 1952, he travelled across Europe and visited countless galleries and museums, where he had extensive exposure to the classics of Western art. In 1951, Zao discovered the work of Paul Klee at museums in Switzerland, and he was deeply influenced by the system of symbols and signs in Klee's paintings. The artist began to ombine line drawing, line cutting and flat wash technique in executing semi-figurative oil paintings. He used one-point perspective or multi-point perspective for spatial organisation in his compositions; the images began to be filled with symbolic motifs and abstract expression, with the colours drifting beyond the images. It saw Zao Wou-Ki starting to establish his artistic style.
24.09.51 (Lot 309) is a epresentative work from this period, and it portrays a cathedral, so often found in French cities. The composition makes use of dramatic perspective to emphasise the tremendous presence of the architecture, and of simple, indistinct lines to depict the contour of the cathedral. Amidst the washes of red, the building loses its materiality in a composition that carries a fairytale-like and dreamy touch, while the iconic French monument is awash in a sacred light. On 15 April 2019, a dramatic fire broke out at the Notre- Dame in Paris, destroying its spire and its wooden roof structure, and causing profound damage to this historical architecture that is an emblem of the brilliant French culture. The fire of Notre Dame reminds us of the value of cultural and historical heritage, and fortunately,24.09.51 captures the glory of such legacy.