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Estate of Patti Cadby Birch, New York

In 1949, Zao Wou-ki won the first prize in a sketch competition for young artists in France, a great encouragement for him, who was still finding his way and direction in the world of painting. By May of the same year, he was able to hold his first solo exhibition in Paris, which was a big success. In 1950, Pierre Loeb, an eminent art dealer who had exhibited the paintings of countless grandmasters, and had famously declared to never act as an agent for Chinese painters, decided at the recommendation of the art critic Henri Michaux to buy as many as eleven of Zao's pieces. It was the beginning of a long partnership. The year 1950 also marked the beginning of a tradition that saw Zao's paintings exhibited at the Salon de Mai on a regular basis for the next twenty something years. It was from here that Zao's artistic voyage truly took off.

When Zao was working on his 1950 oil painting "23.6.50" he had yet to discover the oeuvre of Paul Klee (which he would in 1951), yet the piece already displayed the first inklings of his own characteristic lines and vibrant symbolism. It was during that period that Henri Michaux spotted the existence of a latent lyricism in Zao's paintings, which inspired him to write poems in their praise. Zao, an avid reader of classical Chinese poetry since his early childhood, naturally had a deep understanding of vistas and imagery in both poems and pictures, in particular since in Chinese art poetry and painting often tend to melt into one. This affinity helped Zao to use uncomplicated forms and colors to attract the attention of his peers, such as Jean Dubuffet. And it was the sculptor Alberto Giacometti who once said that he particularly enjoyed the concrete, unveiled elements in Zao's paintings.

As early as 1950 Zao had decided to focus his efforts on oil painting. Largely influenced by the mural paintings in churches and cathedrals, he spent much time on studying carefully how to employ a two-dimensional medium to produce a three-dimensional effect. He also explored different ways of composition and arrangement of objects in his paintings. The art critic Daniel Marchesseau expressed his appreciation this way: "Il retrouve alors une voie pour son pinceau, entre délés orientalisants et architectures classiques."(cf. p.22 of the exhibition catalogue Zao Wou-ki 60 ans de peintures, published in Chinese by Sanlian Publishers, Shanghai, 1998). Zao developed this particular style in the formative years of 1950 and 1951, and it would become the basis for his later artistic development towards an "abstract expressionism."