Illustrated:

According to the descriptions of Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-ki had a batch of works exhibited in Tokyo during the spring of 1961. Japanese art critics were greatly attracted, believing that the perception of light in Zao Wou-ki's paintings originated from Europe; yet its polyvalent concept of space however belonged to Asia. One of them, Mr Takashima, pointed out that Zao Wou-ki's inspirations were filled with the dramatics. Avowed and combatted pessimism were separately hidden within the watercolor and the oil paintings¹. In actuality, during this period, his life was one intermingled with joy and anxieties, namely, the applause coming from the European and American art circles, the bliss of newly wedded life, the bodily ills of his wife as well as the struggles and challenges faced upon moving into a big studio and working on giant canvasses. All these produced an infinite motivation in Zao Wou-ki, who painted fervently, and it was during this period that he further displayed the blending of China and Paris using his paintings².

Often relying on materials of couteau a palette in the few years starting from 1961, Leymarie deems that Zao Wou-ki had a breakthrough in skills and techniques during this time. The couteau a palette were first used by the two painters, Courbet and C?anne, to embellish their touch. The sense of speed achieved when scraping and painting with it made Zao Wou-ki extremely fascinated³. Zao Wou-ki's friend cum fellow student, Wu Guanzhong, after viewing the works that he completed between the 1950s and 60s, contends that Zao's "outlook on emotive abstract painting" was hence defined, as though a vulture spreading its wings, alike the illusion of a shooting star showing up in the sky. Within his memoirs is a paragraph describing his style during this period of time, "likened to as heavenly, in a flash, it turns into humanly realms, those vast and distant sea of clouds, waves after waves of warm currents, and yet more often than not, transforms into gently waving spring blossoms and crystal clear rippling ponds, or a display of the open plains of his homeland where mists enshrouds the silent planes of woods. 'Empty and Solid', 'Concentrate and Scatter', 'Thousand Ties and Countless Links cum Toppling Mountains and Tumbling Seas'...are but perhaps some of the vocabulary frequently used in Wou-ki's compositions, while the concept of spirit-resonance-life-movement is even more of a family heirloom to us. Is it without any reason that the beautiful zither-like instrument has fifty strings? People talks about obscure poems, yet not only are there fifty strings in Wou-ki's paintings, there are also unexplained colors and dots, with each and every string and dot possessing charm and fascination, in an abundance of obscure beauty. Does he also possess a period that could be termed as the Obscure Period too⁴?"

Zao Wou-ki mentioned in his own biography that he lacked confidence when he first arrived in France and had sustained just by drawing upon his plentiful amount of energy for painting alone. Looking back upon the ten years from 1960 to 1970, since the moment of his arrival in France he be gun painting and creating relentlessly, and finally got to see concrete results⁵. Zao Wou-ki said, "These ten years have, in many ways, been the period of my maturation⁶." He was highly satisfied with his works in the 1960s and the international fraternity also expressed highly favorable opinions upon his style in this period. As such, he became a fellow member of the post-war abstract school together with the likes of Hartung, Soulages and Manessier. Recently, both the local and international auction markets have also been lending their greatest support to the 1960s' works completed by Zao Wou-ki (refer to the article "Overseas Chinese Art Resets Records" in the current issue of "Art and Investment"). Be it in terms of artistry or marketability, the 1960s' paintings by Zao Wou-ki are still setting a lot more extraordinary results!

1 Jean Leymarie, Zao Wou-ki, Edition Cercle d'Art, Paris, 1986, p. 37
2 Ibid., p. 35
3 Ibid., pp. 37-38
4 Wu Guanzhong, Wangjin Tianyalu-Memoirs of Wu Guanzhong, Wanxiang Tushu, 1992, pp. 222-223
5 Zao Wou-ki & Francoise Marquet, Liu Li (translated), Zao Wou-ki Autoportrait, Artist Publishing Co., Taipei, January 15, 1992 (first edition), January 15, 1996 (second edition), p. 132
6 Ibid., p. 133