About Zao Wou-Ki
Zao Wou-Ki (born 13 February 1921 in Beijing) is a Chinese-French painter.
Biography of Zao Wou-Ki
Zao Wou-Ki studied calligraphy in his childhood. Later, he studied painting in the school of Fine Arts in Hangzhou from 1935 to 1941. Zao Wou-Ki went to the block of Montparnasse in Paris, where he followed Émile Othon Friesz's classes. His earliest exhibition in France were met with praise from Miró and Picasso.
Zao Wou-Ki's works, influenced by Paul Klee, are orientated to abstraction. He names them with the date in which he finishes them. In hiw artworks masses of colours appear to materialise a creating world, like a big bang, where light structures the canvas.
While his works are similar to the abstract expressionists whom he met while travelling in New York, he's also influenced by impressionism. Zao Wou-ki himself has stated that he is fascinated with the works of Cézanne and Matisse.
Zao Wou-ki is considered to be one of the most successful Chinese painters alive. One of his paintings, Hommage a Tou-Fou, recently sold for a record price equivalent to almost 6 million USD at the November 30, 2008 Christie's Hong Kong auction (sold for 45,460,000 HKD = 5,861,041 US$).
As of now Zao Wou-ki has stopped producing new paintings.