Watercolour on paper

29.7 x 21.4 cm. 11 3/4 x 8 3/8 in.

Inscribed, located and signed in French and Chinese, dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Received as a gift by original Spanish collector Mr. and Mrs. Joaquim Gomis directly from the artist
Private Collection, Asia

Note: The work is painted by the artist on the inside cover of his exhibition catalogue
This work will be included in the artist's forthcoming catalogue raisonné prepared by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen (Information provided by Foundation Zao Wou-Ki)

"The Reborn Ink, The Oriental Poet
The Testimony of Friendship Between Zao Wou-Ki and Mr. and Mrs. Gomis

Zao Wou-Ki decided to return to his motherland in 1972, yet three years's thinking and traveling has him back to Paris with the fresh new creation idea. When he stepped on the land of Paris again, he was no longer the young artist who just arrived in the city and avoided all the Chinese elements in his creation to run from the Tag “Chinese Artist”. “The feeling that I have already left the Chinese influence behind enables me to embrace China again”. He started to repractice the ink painting again and held his first solo exhibition in the Galerie de France, Paris, 1975 after he traveled across China. This time, we bring the work Sans Titre on the stage. The painting was created for the famous Spanish collector couple Mr. and Mrs. Joaquim Gomis. Zao painted this excellent watercolour on the brochure, but the limited paper had been filled with his poetic soul of an oriental artist.

Expand the eyes and the blues of a wide range come straight in front of the viewer, indigo, royal blue, violet blue, ultramarine,…from the bottom to the top, from deep to light, from saturated to unsaturated shading trend. Water dilutes these similar yet changing colour blocks, creating a moist and transparent effect, like the dancing symbols swirling down. Zao paints in a free spirit, therefore the watercolour is performed in a way as light as the ink painting, while an affluent colour range is preserved. The flowing strokes free him from his earlier meticulously controlled style. Later in the 1980s, his strokes gradually develops into a more fluid style. At the right bottom corner, the rough black strokes are dense and sick. There are stops and connections within the left and right falling strokes. Artist uses his strong brushes to create a form via all these, like a mountainous scene of the landscape painting, expanding into the infinite under such a blue sky. From the limited earth to the unlimited ocean, from the touchable land and sea to the void, the contrast between virtual and reality is embodied with infinite imagination.

In the bottom of the painting, Zao's inscription “To My Beloved Friend Gomis” testifies their deep friendship. Born in Barcelona, Mr.Gomis was the major sponsor of architect Antoni Gaudi and artist Joan Miro when he was alive. He was a famous photographer and collector as well, making himself an important figure in the European art field. Thus the painting proves a friendship across the nations, between a Chinese artist and a Spanish collector."

Price estimate:
HKD: 180,000 – 280,000
USD: 23,200 – 36,100

Auction Result:
HKD: 531,000