亞洲現代與當代藝術 Modern and Contemporary Asian Art

“Although the influence of Paris is undeniable in all my training as an artist, I also
wish to say that I have gradually rediscovered China as my deeper personality has affirmed
itself. In my recent paintings, this is expressed in an innate manner. Paradoxically,
perhaps, it is to Paris I owe this return to my deepest origins.” - Zao Wou-Ki
REMINISCING EASTERN SENTIMENTS
The year 1971 marked a low point in Zao Wou-Ki’s creative career.
His second wife, Chan May-Kan, was severely ill, and Zao just could
not find the heart to create. His friend, Henri Michaux, a poet and
an artist, suggested that he compose less-demanding Chinese
ink paintings, and Zao re-embraced the profundity of Eastern
conventional painting. May-Kan passed away the following year,
leaving Zao in an abyss of loneliness and remorse, unable to pick
up his brush to paint for almost a year and a half. In 1972, Zao’s
thoughts were directed to China. It was his first return to his home
country since his departure in 1948. There, he began employing
Chinese media to interpret perspective techniques in western
painting. He imitated the flow, blooming, and dripping that ink
creates on cloth or paper, and the ink colors he used were varied—
burnt, thick, heavy, light, or clear. He created the effect of form
contained in the formless. The profound thoughts of Eastern culture
touched him and inspired him, and this era became a turning point
in Zao’s artistic, creative life. The change in this period also enriched
Zao’s creations. In Chinese ink, he saw unlimited variations, a free
and wide space, and the profound yet reserved concepts of Eastern
philosophy. All of these in Zao’s paintings started in this period
became freer and more at ease, expanding the emotions Zao
wanted to express in the picture.
Gao Xingjian once commented on Zao, “He sought forms, but he
did not fall for formalism. He was particular about color, and what
the symphony of colors expressed was an artistic conception.”
Since the Song dynasty, traditional Chinese painting abandoned
the use of color. By contrast, since the Renaissance period, western
paintings have utilized color and light, in ways to which Eastern
paintings do not compare. Zao’s abstract oil paints integrated the
characteristics of Chinese ink. He mostly used color to express the
artistic conceptions of oriental philosophy, and he integrated the
subtle charm of Chinese ink into oil painting.
A SYMPHONY WITH GORGEOUS COLORS
In 1973, Zao met his third wife, Françoise Marquet, a newlyqualified
intern at a museum in Paris. Afterwards, splendid colors
that had rarely been present in the past started to appear in
his works. The gorgeous color tone spoke volumes about Zao’s
mindset. That same year, Zao created the work 09.07.73. The colors
are simple, light, and elegant, exhibiting tenderness beneath the
strength. The bold yet intricate blooming techniques reveal that
the painting was composed in a flow. The picture presents a sense
of movement, and the special construction is distant and implicit,
reflecting that Zao attempted to integrate a western setting with
the eastern, distant, spatial sense. It can be observed from this
piece that Zao gradually ceased to seek strong and magnificent
brush strokes, as if being able to consume the mountains and
the rivers. He gradually outgrew lines; instead, he utilized the
flow, sway, staggering, and stacking of colors to demonstrate a
harmonious picture and spatial movement. As if he understood the
circle of life, he used his brushes to express his realization about
living life to the fullest.
Taiwanese painter and writer Chu Ko once commented on the
distinctive colors of Zao Wou-ki: "Each of his works has a principal
shade and the principal shade of each piece is never a primary
color. Instead, similar colors are set off by contrast in different
arrangements. Though the works are oil paintings, they are smeared
with rich and interesting colors. Oil paints are tempered to form
the neutral tone of watercolors – a feat which western artists find
difficult to achieve. The implication of the colors reflects the three
popular notions of Oriental watercolor philosophy; nevertheless,the
rich tones cannot be attained by real watercolors". (Chu Ko, 'Truth of
Nature', Album of Zao Wou-ki, edited by Yuan Dexing, catalogue of Prinkmaker Gallery
exhibition, Yuancheng Publishing Co., Taipei, 1980)
Zao’s creations not only embody the essence behind Chinese and
western cultures, but he also developed a spirit about the universe
through his infusion of Eastern philosophy. The sceneries he painted
underwent repeated thinking and patient precipitation before being
transformed into paintings that reflect his profound experience and
reflections on his attitude about life. Unlike in the past, when Zao
avoided being restricted by Chinese traditional culture, Zao instead
refamiliarized himself with Chinese ink in 1971, and this painting
style gradually granted him a means of interpretation that was
stable, easy, and undisturbed. This masterpiece created by Zao in
the 1970s retains the usual flickering lines, but they are no longer
mottled, rugged, or heavy, as in the past. This work integrated
Chinese ink painting. The blank he left is wider, and the sky and the
clouds reveal an implicit texture, foretelling the coming of his style
of his next era.
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