LONDON.- Zao Wou-Ki was born in the Chinese capital of Beijing in 1921 and spent his childhood learning the art of calligraphy; he would later abandon his Eastern roots to explore his artistic talents in the West. As a teenager, Zao received formal training at the now-historic China Academy of Art - the nation’s first art university - studying painting there for a period of six years. In his late 20s, the artist relocated to Paris with his first wife, Lalan, a musical composer.

Upon moving to Paris, Zao lived in the Bohemian neighbourhood of Montparnasse, which had become the haunt of artists and intellectuals, including Giacometti (his neighbour), Hemingway and Dalí. Zao’s style begun to show influence from the likes of Paul Klee and Matisse, gaining recognition as an abstract gestural painter. His early Parisian works also captured the attention of renowned Spanish surrealists, Miró and Picasso.

During the 1950s, Zao’s signature style began to truly emerge, as the painter blended tradition Chinese landscape painting with European abstraction. In a later interview, Zao would state that he “gradually rediscovered China…Paradoxically, perhaps, it is to Paris I owe this return to my deepest origins”. The artist’s works were exhibited across the world, from London to Milan to New York. Towards the end of this decade, Zao spent a year in New York associating with Abstract Expressionists, such as Hans Hofmann and Franz Kline.

In spite of his gradual return to his Eastern roots, Zao still avoided producing overtly Chinese-influenced art and using the artistic techniques of his homeland, including ink painting. It wasn’t until the 1970s, when his second wife, May, began to struggle with her mental illness that the artist attempted the technique of India ink; over a decade later, examples of his India inks were exhibited at the Galerie de France in Paris.

After the death of May, Zao returned to China in 1972 after a 24-year absence; despite rejecting his beginnings and becoming a French citizen, the painter would return repeatedly until his death in 2013. In 1985, Zao and his third wife, Françoise, were invited to teach at the artist’s former school, the China Academy of Art, where he taught painting and charcoal drawing for a brief period.

As retrospective after retrospective of his work were held across the globe, Zao continued to create and experiment with new media. In 2008, Zao produced original vase designs for reputable French porcelain manufacturer, Sèvres.

Zao has been considered one of the most successful Chinese painters of the 20th century; this was recognised both by the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts granting him membership in 2002, and the art market, with his work Abstraction (1958) selling for $14.7 million in an auction at Sotheby’s, Beijing.