Zao Wou-Ki

Why this artist matters now

Zao Wou-Ki was a Chinese-French painter and draughtsman who developed a lyrical abstraction bridging Eastern calligraphy and Western modernism. Born in Shanghai in 1920, he moved to Paris in 1948, where his practice synthesized gestural mark-making with controlled spatial composition. His drawings and paintings employ a restrained palette of blacks, greys, and earth tones, layering delicate lines and washes that suggest landscape and figuration without representing them directly. He worked across paper and canvas until his death in 2013.

Source: Sothebys · Trust score: 100% · Updated 1mo ago