Zao Wou-Ki was a Chinese painter and print maker known for his non-figuratives paintings with their blending of Western and Asian artistic styles. You-Ki came from an ancient family lineage that dated back to the Song Dynasty, and went to live in the U.S. while his brothers and sisters remained in China. Wou-Ki was a very talented student, drawing and painting from the early age of 10. In 1935 at the age of 14, he began his studies at the Hangzhou National College of Fine Art where for six years he studied drawing, oil painting, traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. His first exhibit took place in Chongqing with works influenced by Matisse and Picasso. Wou-Ki then moved to Paris, living in Montparnasse in a studio next to that of Alberto Giacometti. He went on to say that he chose to move there because of the prevalence of impressionism.
In 1949, the artist was awarded the first prize for a drawing contest. His first Parisian exhibition took place the same year at the Galerie Greuze. Starting from 1952, his works were exhibited in Paris at the Galerie Pierre then in Bâle, in Switzerland, Lausanne, the U.S., Washington, Chicago, and New York. In 1957 he participated in the Salon de Mai (where he would show his work until 1978) and presented his lithographs at the La Hune gallery. Alain Jouffroy wrote in Arts « Zao Wou-Ki’s practice shows how the Chinese vision of the Universe, where blurriness and distance reflect a spirit of contemplation rather than something contemplated, has become a modern universal vision. » His artistic evolution brought him close to lyrical abstraction but also informal and gestural art.
The first monograph of his work was published at the Musée Poche with a text by Claude Roy and a preface by Henri Michaux in 1957. The artist also presented a personal exhibition of paintings at the Galerie de France in Paris. It was there that he became friends with Hans Hartung, Pierre Soulages, and Alfred Manessier. In 1961, Wou-Ki exhibited at the Tokyo Gallery in Japan and a retrospective dedicated to his paintings took place at the Folwang Museum of Essen in Germany in 1965 as well as a sixth personal exhibition at the Kootz Gallery in New York. Zao Wou-Ki became a painting professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1980, and fours years later was made Officier of the French Legion of Honor by the then French minister of culture, Jack Lang. The works of the acclaimed artist can be found in public collections worldwide: in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Spain, the U.S.A., Finland, France, Great-Britain and Japan.