“I think all painters, for them, are realist. They are abstract only for others”

Zao Wou-Ki was born to a wealthy family descended from the Song Dynasty. He started drawing since he was a child. His father, a banker, was supportive and allowed him to study the techniques of traditional Chinese and Western painting at the Hangzhou School of Fine Arts. At the same institution and after his training, the artist gave drawing lessons for five years. His first solo show took place in Chongqing when I was only 21. Heavily influenced by Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso, Wou-Ki moved to Paris in 1948. There, his creation became abstract and he met Soulages, Francis, Bluhm and Riopelle, among others.

His work was diverse: he began to paint figurative works, mostly portraits, still lifes and landscapes, then from the 1950s he tended towards abstraction, and finally towards lyrical abstraction and calligraphy in the 1960s.

Born chinese, Zao Wou-Ki chose french nationality in 1964.

In 2002, he became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.