PROVENANCE:
Cadby-Birch Gallery, New York, USA
ILLUSTRATED:
Gérard de Cortanze, Yves Bonnefy, Zao Wou-ki, La Différence / Enrico Navarra, Paris, 1998, color illustrated, p. 88

Among the most well-known cathedrals ever built, Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. French for “Our Lady of Paris,” Notre Dame exhibits perfection of form in its symmetrical façade, circular stained-glass window, and majestic pointed arches which tower regally over the streets of Paris. As the true heart of the French capital, all distances within France are measured from place du Parvis Notre Dame, the square located in front of the cathedral. A bronze star across from the entrance marks the point zéro des routes de France, or “point zero of French roads.” Countless artists, both French and international, have been inspired by the cathedral’s stunning beauty, including French novelist Victor Hugo, pointillist master Georges Seurat, and influential Modern Master Pablo Picasso. Just as these other artistic minds before him, a young Zao Wou-ki fell in love with the arresting splendor of Notre Dame, and the cathedral became one of his favorite subjects for the study of urban landscapes.

Zao Wou-ki arrived in Paris in 1948, eager to immerse himself in the rich artistic traditions of the European city so far removed from his home city of Beijing. Spending countless hours admiring the paintings and movements he found in the Louvre, Zao also carefully studied the Western classical architectural structure of the buildings around him. Art critic Daniel Marchesseau says, “He discovered a way for his brush between delicate orientalism and classic architecture.” The sense of space and grandeur Zao found in studying the architecture of Paris directly influenced the artist’s spatial constructions within his own paintings. With a linear structure similar to embroidery, it was during this period that Zao laid the foundation for his unique aesthetic, allowing his later transition to expressive and abstract painting.

Over the course of three years, from 1950 to 1953, Zao Wou-ki painted many urban landscapes featuring architecture from various European cities. Of these, at least six oil paintings depict Notre Dame de Paris, demonstrating the artist’s adoration of this august cathedral. The current lot, as one of the largest in the series, serves as a superlative example of Zao’s Notre Dame paintings. Completed in 1953, Notre-Dame de Paris comes to life with the painter’s skilled application of vivid detail. With a certain abstraction of line and form, Notre-Dame de Paris foreshadows Zao’s later series inspired by Oracle bone inscriptions. An arresting example of the artist’s exemplary skill, the present lot stands as a masterpiece from Zao Wou-ki’s early career in Paris.