ZAO WOU-KI 趙無極 | 17.06.61

Galerie de France, Paris

Private European Collection

Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 2 April 2012, Lot 539

Acquired directly from the above by the former owner

Christie’s, Hong Kong, 30 May 2015, Lot 56

Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector 

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巴黎，法蘭西畫廊

歐洲私人收藏

香港，蘇富比，2012年4月2日，拍品編號539

前藏家直接購自上述拍賣

香港，佳士得，2015年5月30日，拍品編號56

現亞洲重要私人藏家直接購自上述拍賣

Travelling Among Blue Mountains and Green Waters: Zao Wou-Ki’s Journey into the Hurricane Period

In the late 1950s, Zao Wou-Ki embarked upon an extended trip around the world. During his time in New York, he met a group of American Abstract Expressionist painters. He was deeply inspired by the importance they placed on the release of emotion in their work, which finally prompted him to shake off symbolic visual expression in a significant creative breakthrough for the artist. His calligraphic brushstrokes swirl their way across the canvas, and rich colours intersect in compositions that can be as clear as a landscape or as chaotic as a primeval void. Zao Wou-Ki’s famed Hurricane Period of the 1960s was characterized by the unusual vigour of these paintings. Encouraged by representation from Kootz Gallery in New York, Zao sustained a passion for large oil paintings. However, his smaller-scale treasures should not be overlooked, perhaps all the more interesting because they tested the artist’s mastery – namely his ability to express himself freely and suggest larger themes within a limited space. 17.06.61 (Lot 1019), created in the early part of his Hurricane Period, is an excellent example. The painting is delicate yet conveys a broad vision with vigorous flurries of strokes that help the viewer to see through the beauty of the mundane world into a mysterious wonderland of blue-green mountains and rivers.

In his Hurricane Period, Zao Wou-Ki shifted from objective images to subjective emotions. He reinterpreted the sublime realm of Chinese traditional landscape painting through the lens of post-war Abstract Expressionism. The structures of his paintings were often drawn from rapidly changing natural phenomena. His Hurricane works were inspired by the release of immense, deeply hidden power. In 17.06.61, Zao let loose with a series of forceful calligraphic brushstrokes that fly into an expanse of refined dark emerald green, elaborating the artist’s farsighted and free creative passions. The middle ground seems to feature a towering mountain range, with “hurricane” lines in black and white taking exquisite, endless variations. At the same time, rays of white light suddenly appear from within, as if several pieces of white silk were dancing in the air. This element adds layers to the space, making it almost impossible to absorb the immensity of the scene.

In 17.06.61, Zao Wou-Ki expressed the continuous energy of life in blues and greens. This is not simply an extension of the ancient bronze vessels that inspired his Oracle Bone period; it embodies the grandeur of Tang dynasty painter Li Sixun’s decorative blue-green paintings, while also representing the flourishing landscapes of Northern Song painter Wang Ximeng’s A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains. The lyrical world of mountains and rivers in 17.06.61 is vaguely reminiscent of the three stages of Buddhist meditation: “He saw mountains as mountains, he saw that mountains are not mountains, and he saw that mountains are still mountains.” Here, the viewer experiences a wonderful journey with the heart and eyes. The painting encompasses the full process from initial realization to partial understanding to complete comprehension of the truth, and eventually, the viewer finds the glory of life in the blue-green beauty of the universe.

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神遊青山綠水——趙無極狂草之旅

五〇年代末，趙無極展開了漫長的寰球之旅，在紐約逗留的期間，結識了一眾美國抽象表現主義畫家，並深受其重視情感渲洩的的創作觀念所啟發，使他最終掙脫符號式的視覺表現，迎來突破萬步的創作狂潮：筆觸有如狂草書法般馳騁於畫面，流溢色彩交織於時而清澈如山水、時而混沌如虛空的佈局裡，一眾作品展現非凡磅礡的氣勢，成就了趙無極六〇年代蜚聲國際的「狂草」歲月。在紐約庫茲畫廊代理人的鼓勵下，趙無極培養出創作巨幅油畫的激情，然而尺幅較小的珍品亦不容忽略，甚或更具觀賞趣味，因其更能考驗藝術家如何在有限的空間裡，暢所欲言、見微知著，展現大師之氣度，而創於狂草初期的《17.06.61》（拍品編號1019）即為珍稀佳例：畫幅精巧卻有著廣闊宏觀的視野，以豪邁的狂草筆鋒，引領著觀者遨遊一片青山綠水的仙境秘景，看破塵世之絕美。

狂草時期的趙無極，從客觀物象走向主觀心象，並以戰後抽象表現手法作為切入點，重新詮釋中國傳統山水畫的崇高意境，其畫面結構往往是援引自瞬息萬變的自然現象，藉以宣泄深藏內在的巨大能量，是為趙無極狂草珍品的靈魂所在。在《17.06.61》，趙無極放任一連串鏗鏘有力的書法筆觸，往一片如翠玉般脫俗的碧綠汪洋飛騰，抒寫著藝術家胸有丘壑、揮灑自如的創作激情；中景仿若山勢崢嶸，呈象牙黑色的狂草線條，依然反映出細膩無窮的變化，而在同一時間，幾道亮白光芒從中乍現，有如幾匹白絹在空中飛舞，令整體的空間層次感得以伸張，如此蒼茫之景讓人目不暇接。

於《17.06.61》中，趙無極以翠青之色，表達源源不絕的生命之氣，這不僅是延續了「甲骨文時期」作品源自古代青銅禮器的滄桑氣息，亦體現了唐代李思訓憑藉「青山綠水畫」而聞名於世的大將之風，更重現了北宋王希孟《千里江山圖》中的盛世景象。《17.06.61》中似山又如水的空靈世界，冥冥之中呼應著參禪論中「看山是山，看山不是山，看山還是山」的三重境界；久視之下，觀者亦有如親歷一趟以心眼體驗的精彩旅程，從參透之初，至觀景有悟，繼而達至徹悟，均在一畫之中全盤掌握，終在一片融天地大美的青綠重彩中，尋得最輝煌的生命光華。