Zao wou ki biography sample paper

Zao Wou-Ki: the Modern Chinese Painter Overseas

ctSince the midth century, the Chinese painter Zao Wou-Ki () gradually established himself as a renowned artist in the Parisian modern art scene by developing a unique style of abstract landscapes. His works stand at a middle point between two distinct art practices—Western modernist oil painting and Chinese traditional ink painting.

Free biography sample Save preferences. The Honors. At the age of 28, he decided to leave his native China for France and more particularly Paris and the Montparnasse district where he frequented the artistic world and quickly became known to gallery owners. View works.

This project examines Zao’s experiments and personal inquiries that led to his abstract landscape painting in the s, the social and cultural circumstances in China where the artist received his training prior to his departure for Paris in , and the responses to his works within post-revolutionary China in the late s. Zao Wou-Ki belonged to a generation that strived for a radical modernization of the tradition-dominated Chinese civilization.

Born into an aristocratic family, Zao received extensive training in calligraphy and ink painting since childhood. However, following the founding leaders of the Republic of China that ended the monarchical rule of the Qing dynasty in , he gave up traditional ink practices and grew increasingly fond of the Western modernist art.

He refused to work in ink to avoid being trapped in its classic formula. In the end, however, the more he immersed himself in Western art, the more he felt the need to acknowledge his own cultural roots, and thus in Paris started his lifelong effort of creating in art a cultural bridge between East and West.

Zao wou ki biography sample paper He is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery, alongside with Chan May ,his second wife and mother of his daughter. The first three years, he studied drawing from plaster, then the next two, from live models. Paper Skip to main content.

Zao’s career is emblematic of the evolvement of modern Chinese art in the 20th century. The pioneering Chinese modernists such as Zao Wou-Ki first emerged on the art scene during the fervor for modernization in earlyth century China. But these artists relocated themselves overseas in the s when modern art became threatened by the state policy of Socialist Realism in the early Communist regime.

In the late s, the re-introduction of Western modernism in mainland China stirred debates among the post-revolutionary Chinese audience. Reflecting this controversial process of reintroduction, these artists proved critical for re-launching Chinese art into the international orbit.

Zao wou ki biography sample paper pdf Works during this period drew further inspiration from ancient Chinese bronzes and oracle-bone inscriptions. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails. Site by Artlogic. A legal battle is ongoing because the son of the artist Jia-Ling Zhao, contest that decision by accusing his stepmother who created the Geneva Zao Wou-Ki Foundation to monopolize the work of his husband.

The cross-cultural interaction that Zao carried out between East and West proposed a possibility for Chinese art in the age of globalization. In this study, I regard Zao Wou-Ki as a painter-translator, refashioning Eastern aesthetics in a Western visual language. In the search for a link between his Parisian life and his Chinese roots, he achieved a form of art that was intuitively understandable to both Western and Eastern audiences.

It is thus that both the artist and his works became a valuable bridge across cultures.en_US