Zao Wou-Ki
(1921-2013)
Born in Beijing in 1920, Zao Wou-ki (赵无极) is from an aristocratic and well-educated family. Enrolled into the National Hangzhou School of Art in1935, he studied traditional painting, calligraphy and meanwhile explored the western art. His first personal exhibition was held in Shanghai in 1947, right before he left for Paris. He settled in Montparnasse, studied at Academy of the Large Thatched Cottage (L’Académie de la Grande- Chaumière) and became friends with abstract artists from School of Paris (L’École de Paris). In 1949, he met the poet and painter Henri Michaux. At the very begining, he was inspired by Paul Klee’s works, he integrated imaginary ideogram to his canvas which reconcile with the traditional chinese calligraphy.
Started from 1954, he diverged himself from such influence and found a clear way on the abstract landscape that at the frontier between the East and the West. Followed the suggestions from Henri Michaux, in 1971, he returned to the techniques of traditional ink. This spontaneous and intuitive experiment allows him to express the notion of the wholeness and void thoroughly, and became a famous international artist. His works are collected by different major museums all around the world.
Personal exhibitions
—1947 | Sino-Soviétic Association, Tchouang King, China |
1954 | The Cincinnati Museum of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. |
1956 | Kleemann Galleries, New York, U.S.A. |
1965 | Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany |
1968 | San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. |
1969 | Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montréal, Canada Musée du Québec, Quebec, Canada |
1973 | Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
1975 | Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Maison de la Culture et des Loisirs, Saint-Etienne, France |
1977 | Fondation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium |
1980 | Musée d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg, Grand- Duchy of Luxembourg
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium |
1981 | Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France; traveled through Japan to Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka; Grand Art Gallery, Tokyo-Nihonbashi,Tokyo; Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art, Fukui; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Japan |
1982 | National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore, Singapore
Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong |
1983 | Musée Ingres, Montauban, France; traveled to Espace des Cordeliers, Châteauroux, France; the National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China; Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China
National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan; traveled to the House of Culture, Tai-Nan and Prefectoral Library, Tai-Chung, Taiwan |
1986 | French Cultural Center, Rome, Italy |
1988 | Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Metz, France |
1990 | Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours, France |
1991 | Vasarely Foundation, Aix-en-Provenance, France |
1992 | Château de Vianden, Vianden, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
Centre Cultural Noroît, Arras, France Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal |
1993 | Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan |
1994 | Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico |
1995 | Maison de la Culture, Nevers, France
Ishibashi Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, Kurume, Japan |
1996 | Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
Museum of Arts, Hong Kong |
1998 | Retrospective, organized by Association Française d’Action Artistique, L’Oréal and the Shanghai Museum of Art, Shanghai, China; traveled to the Chinese Palace of Fine Arts, Beijing, China; the Palace of Fine Arts, Canton, China.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Angers, France |
1999 | Centre d’Art Plastiques, Royan, France |
2000 | Institut Français, Barcelona, Spain
Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville, Paris, France |
2001 | Institut Valenciá d’Art Modern, Centre Julio González, Valencia, Spain; traveled to Musée d’Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium |
2002 | Château de Chenonceau, Chenonceaux, France |
2003 | Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
Retretti Art Center of Taidehalli, Helsinki, Finland |
2004 | Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France |
2005 | Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp France
Espace Bellevue, Biarritz, France |
2006 | Suzhou Museum, Suzhou City, China |
2007 | Chateau Musée de Nemours, Nemours, France |
2008 | Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France; exhibition traveled to Suzhou Museum, Suzhou City, China
Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, France Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec, Québec, Canada |
2009 | Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong |
2010 | Fundação Arpad Szenes, Lisbon, Portugal |
2011 | Sarthe Fine Art, Hong Kong |
2012 | Oriental Art & Cultural Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia FEAST Projects, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong |
2015 | Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, Switzerland |
Public exhibitions
—Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Veranneman Foundation, Kruishoutem, Belgium
The Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan
The Tate Gallery, London, UK
The Tate Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
Taiwan Museum of Art, Tai-Chung, Taiwan
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Suzhou Musem, Suzhou, China
Stanford University, Stanford, California, U.S.A.
Sara Hildénin Taidemuseo, Tampere, Finland
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Nobutaka Shikanei Collection, Tokyo, Japan
Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc, Tokyo, Japan
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
National Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Nagaoka Contemporary Art Museum, Nagaoka, Japan
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Museu Nacional de Arte Moderna, Porto, Portugal
Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico
Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico
Musée d’Unterlinden, Colmar, France
Musée de la Poste, Paris, France
Musée Pierre Noël, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France
Musée Olympique, Lausanne, Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland
Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, Québec, QC, Canada
Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musée Ingres, Montauban, France
Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, France
Musée d’Histoire et d’Art, Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
Musée Greuze, Tournus, France
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France
Musée de l’Ancien Evêché, Evreux, France
Musée du Dessin et de l’Estampe Originale, Gravelines, France
Musée Bertrand, Châteauroux, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Canada
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orléans, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montréal, Canada
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Histoire Naturelle, Valence, France
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Metz, France
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, “Fondation Gerald Cramer”, Geneva, Switzerland
Musée d’Art Contemporain, Skopja, Macedonia
Musée d’Art Moderne, Musées Royaux de Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Lieu d’Art et d’Action Contemporaine, Dunkerque, France
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Jakarta Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.
Iwaki City Art Museum, Fukushima, Japan
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone-Machi, Japan
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, U.S.A.
Grand-Ducal Collections, Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg
Galerie der Stadt, Etta and Otto Stangl Collection, Stuttgart, Germany
Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Genoa, Italy
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Arles, France
Fondation François Pinault, Paris, France
Fondation Collection Thyssen-Bornemisza, Castagnola, Switzerland
Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Finch Art College Museum, New York, New York, U.S.A.
École Nationale Normale Supérieure, Lyon, France
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
Collection Nesto Jacometti, Pinacoteca Comunale Casa Rusca, Locarno, Switzerland
Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.
Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico
Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
Bibliothéque Nationale de France, Paris, France
Berkeley University, Medical Research Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Atlanta Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
Atenaeum Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada