Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013)
Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013)
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On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial int… Read more
Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013)

22 mars 2007

Details
Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013)
22 mars 2007
signé en Chinois et en Pinyin 'ZAO' (en bas à droite); daté '22 MARS 2007' (sur le châssis)
huile sur toile
97 x 195 cm.
Peint en 2007

signed in Chinese and Pinyin 'ZAO' (lower right); dated '22 MARS 2007' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas
38 ¼ x 76 ¾ in.
Painted in 2007
Provenance
Collection particulière, Europe (acquis directement auprès de l'artiste).
Special Notice
On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial interest in lots consigned for sale which may include guaranteeing a minimum price or making an advance to the consignor that is secured solely by consigned property. This is such a lot. This indicates both in cases where Christie's holds the financial interest on its own, and in cases where Christie's has financed all or a part of such interest through a third party. Such third parties generally benefit financially if a guaranteed lot is sold successfully and may incur a loss if the sale is not successful. Artist's Resale Right ("droit de Suite"). If the Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer also agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. This item will be transferred to an offsite warehouse after the sale. Please refer to department for information about storage charges and collection details. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5,5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Brought to you by

Antoine Lebouteiller
Antoine Lebouteiller Head of Department

Lot Essay

Cette œuvre est référencée dans les archives de la Fondation Zao Wou-Ki et sera incluse dans le catalogue raisonné de l’artiste en préparation par Françoise Marquet et Yann Hendgen (information fournie par la Fondation Zao Wou-Ki).

« Je me pose souvent les mêmes questions : comment peindre le vent ou capturer la lumière, sa clarté, sa pureté ? Je ne veux pas imiter la nature mais seulement juxtaposer des images et les combiner, de sorte que l’on puisse y deviner comment l’air forme des rides sur la surface paisible de l’eau. » -ZAO WOU-KI
Zao Wou-Ki puise son inspiration dans les vagues ondulantes, les brumes flottantes et toute la beauté de la nature. Dans ce bleu, dérivé des étendues d’eau qu’il aime à contempler, il sublime encore l’espace pictural de la toile. 22 mars 2007 est une œuvre monumentale, qui incarne merveilleusement la quête éternelle de l’artiste de peindre l’invisible. Avec une grande aisance et une parfaite maîtrise de la technique, il expose toutes les harmonies de couleur que l’on puisse décliner en une seule tonalité, faisant montre d’un calme intérieur et d’une sérénité que seuls l’âge et l’expérience peuvent conférer.
Des lignes noires, légères et vaporeuses, sont subtilement brossées sur le fond bleu vif de l’œuvre. Les lignes s’étirent vers l’arrière de la toile comme de fines volutes de fumée, d’encre ou de vent, évoquant la diffusion d’une lumière pénétrante. Vues de loin, elles laissent imaginer les contours escarpés d’une chaîne de montagnes, leurs mouvements rythmiques produisant instantanément une impression de vaste panorama. Des rayons de lumière blanche, éclatante, se reflètent sur la toile de fond bleue, accentuant la profondeur et le mouvement.
Au crépuscule d’une carrière artistique longue et éclectique, Zao Wou-Ki entame un retour aux sources de la peinture et à l’esprit fondamental de sa culture. Par ses couleurs pures, ses lignes simples et son exploration de l’atmosphère, 22 mars 2007 nous transmet simplement toute la joie qu’éprouvait l’artiste un pinceau à la main.

"I often find myself thinking over questions such as how to paint the wind, or how to capture the bright purity of light. I don't want to express nature, but rather to juxtapose images and combine them in such a way that people can see in them how the air forms ripples on the still surface of water." -ZAO WOU-KI
The source of Zao Wou-Ki's inspiration begins with rippling waves, floating mists, and all the beauty of nature. In the blue that derives from his contemplation of bodies of water, he further sublimates the pictorial space of the canvas. 22 mars 2007 is a monumental work which successfully translates the artist’s lifetime quest to paint the invisible: with great ease and confidence in his technique, he displays all the colour harmonies that could be embraced within a single tonality, enabled by his sense of inner calm and composure acquired with age and experience.
Light, wispy black lines are very lightly brushed against the bright blue background of the work. Within its sense of penetrating light, the lines stretch across the bottom of the canvas like wisps of smoke, ink, or wind. As it is seen from a distance, like the folds of a mountain range, their rhythmical movements instantly produce the sense of a vast panorama. Beams of bright white light reflect against the blue backdrop to create a sense of depth and movement.
Near the end of a long and varied artistic career, Zao Wou-Ki returned to the basic sources of painting and the fundamental spirit of his culture. Through its pure colours, basic lines, and its exploration of atmosphere, what 22 mars 2007 conveys most is the sheer joy in which the artist was always immersed when painting.

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