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Biography
Given the continuing influence of traditional Chinese culture, many Chinese artists have sought to further extend that tradition in their own art. The Chinese painting tradition included few artists who departed from empirical rules; their approach interpreted the images of nature and a sense of its power in an abstract style. The sustained appeal of many Eastern paintings, and their suitability for close-up viewing, grows out of the traditional emphasis on the handling of brush and ink and the textures of silk and xuan paper. The Chinese tradition sought an accurate depiction of image, but was also very concerned with beauty of line, which requires both a strong hand and a rhythmic, musical feel. And what the Chinese have always referred to as "the five colors of black" refers to the use of varying shades of pure blacks and whites to manifest the deep complexity of nature. What is sought in this tradition is a harmonious balance of black and white, and when those colors are applied with ingenuity and imagination, natural scenes are conveyed through misty, indistinct grays fully capable of suggesting shifting masses of cloud and mist or mountain peaks in the distance.
I paint the suppleness of space, the harmony of colour, the contest between forms and surrounding spaces; the clashes of planes and blocks of colour that are the confusion and dread in my heart; and the loneliness of white, the peacefulness of blue, and the despair of oranges and purples. I fear neither age nor death-as long as l can hold a brush and brush on the pigment, I'm not afraid of anything. I just hope I have enough time to finish my project of the moment, and that it will be bolder and freer than the last one. - Zao Wou ki(continued on the bottom)
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By the 1980s and '90s, Zads work begins to reflect a more thoughtful and reserved mood. After 40 years of intense artistic exploration, the works of this period display a mature ease and confidence, a harmonious beauty that is realized perfectly in Zads abstract style.
While emulating the spirit of Chinese traditions, Zao nevertheless opened up whole new provinces in contemporary painting. He therefore always avoided certain of the formalities typical of the Chinese tradition, refusing to place a seal or write an inscription on any work he created, even those in traditional ink-wash styles. Nor is there any trace of the derivative in his works. No matter how much affinity he might have felt for Tung Yuan, Fan Kuan, or Mi Fu, Zaos work remains free of any such obvious influences. He understood the ancients' tribute to life and the changing face of nature in all its forms-rugged hills and cliffs, bird and insect, sun, moon, and stars, the peal of thunder, the celebration of dance, the violence of war-and conveyed those images through the dynamics of an aesthetic of form closer to the lives and feelings of modern people. This can be seen not just in the forms of his paintings, but in their emotive power-their reserve, profundity, and energy representing an entirely different cast of thought than that of Western abstract art.
Two great western painters who undoubtedly stimulated Zads early development were Klee and Cezanne. Klee's work revealed an awareness of eastern art and helped strengthen Zaos determination to embrace the traditions of both East and West, whereas Cezannes handling of scenic composition and his color modulations provided an avenue through which Zao, as an eastern painter, could absorb western approaches. Zao once said, "Picasso taught me how to paint like Picasso; Cezanne taught me to observe the essence of China:" The free forms and variations of color in Cezanne's depictions of nature led Zao to a further appreciation of the unique freedom of expression in traditional Chinese landscape painting. Zads affinity with the western Impressionists prior to his departure from China and his later stance, after arriving in Paris, provide an instructive contrast. Despite his travels in Europe and America, where he viewed the originals of many favorite western works and studied the architectural sculpture of Rome, Zao never lost himself in a blind pursuit of things western, and instead embarked on a deeper exploration of his Chinese origins. In 1961, Zao described his circumstances: "Paris exerted an undeniable influence as I transformed myself into an artist, but I have to point out that finding my own character meant also beginning to rediscover China:" Paris liberated Zao, made possible the creation of new directions in his painting, but the traditions of China remained alive in his heart until time and distance, and the ability to see himself through other's eyes, led to the rediscovery of his most precious possession.