Watercolor on paper

22 x 27 cm 8 5/8×10 5/8 in

Signed in Chinese， and English
dated on bottom right

LITERATURE
1995, Zao Wou-Ki Retrospective, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, p.110
EXHIBITED
Jan 1996， Zao Wou-Ki Retrospective， Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts， Kaohsiung
July 2000， Treasure in Mountain： The Select Collection， Mountain Arts Museum， Kaohsiung
March 2003， Legend in Mountain： Encounter Western Masterpiece， Shanghai Art Museum， Shanghai
April 2003， Legend in Mountain： Encounter Western Masterpiece， Sichuan Art Museum， Sichuan

PROVENANCE
Collection of Mountain Culture， Arts and Education Foundation
Important private collection， Asia

This work will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné by Françoise Marquet and Yann Hendgen （Information provided by Foundation Zao Wou-Ki）The painting of Zao Wu-Ki is inhabited by the signs. He gradually releases them from their matrix of matter and flesh， and digs into them. But they are already there. They are older than forms. In Zao Wu-Ki’s works， one would look in vain for the cut that separates the sign from what it means. The signs there are traces and imprints， betraying the deep roots of the world. He carries the teaching of the Chinese literati of his family， he transmits an understanding of the world， he draws from the sources of a mythical tradition. Creation in China is not a Word， but a Sign. It is the traces left by the Creator that are the means of access to the universal…A part of Zao Wou-Ki’s painting is linked with magic. He throws his signs on the canvas like divinatory woods… The pronounced charms decipher and unmask the world. But they also set it in motion， for it has its connections with the Department of Thunder.
——— Dominique de Villepin， French Litterateur

Price estimate:
HKD: 350,000 – 650,000
USD: 44,900 – 83,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,711,000