Art critic Jonathan Hay once remarked that Zao Wou-ki's favourite colour is black. One painting in which his use of this colour is indeed impressive is Hommage ? Henri Matisse, which was finished in 1986. Shades of blue, black, yellow and a little bit of red are applied in a manner strongly reminiscent of Chinese ink-and-wash. Black is clearly the crucial colour that holds together this imaginary panorama of the artist's soul, brimming with a mysterious and poetic quality.



Zao Wou-ki's latest works are decidedly different from his early paintings which were marked by ardent passion. Now the artist takes a more subtle approach, with light yet rich colours that are applied with supple elegance, creating a vague and elusive kind of beauty, or bright, penetrating hues full of the buoyant atmosphere of spring. Although Jonathan Hay has pointed out that beginning in the early 90s, Zao intentionally avoided overuse of his belovedblack colour, we find that in "15.02.2001" with its boundless chromatic potential the colour reappears, having lost nothing of its unrestrained yet elegant force. Between the stark contrasts of dark and bright, dense and light, the painter has managed to find an equilibrium of quiet harmony-a true realisation of his ideals!



In the 1970s, Zao began to experiment with ink-and-wash, which added a lot of variety and depth to the works of his later period. Zao was able to express chromatic variation and uninhibited spatial expansion employing nothing but shades of grey and black. While others were restrained by their strict adherence to only a single tradition, Zao, who was 'at home in two tradition' displayed in his later oeuvre a calm confidence and unbridled creativity that communicates the artist's emotions with a natural ease. 'M ême de petit format, les encres de Chine de Zao Wou-ki évoquent la dimension cosmique. Revenantà l'hule, le peinture use, comme irr?istiblement, des formats de plus en plus grands. C'est la un trait caract?istique de cette derniêre periode.'(cf. François Cheng, Pardelà l'Est et l l'Quest', Zao Wou-ki, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, 2003, p. 21) Therefore, when compared to the artist's earlier periods, we find a lot more large-scale or triptych paintings, also distinguished by their more brisk and sanguine use of colour, in his recent works.



In "15.02.2001" Zao Wou-ki employs the so-called cunfa (a Chinese painting technique for representing irregular surfaces, most frequently used to show the shades and texture of rocks and mountains in landscape painting by light ink strokes). His use of the method proves to be highly effective in expressing the vast expanses of unlimited visionary vistas, like the touching beauty of a fertile plain, or the tranquility of a silent night. The refined light yellow of a gosling's feather and a pastel shade of violet embrace the mysterious, sophisticated mood of the painting, redolent of delicate wisps of light clouds announcing the arrival of spring, or the gentle caress of a soft breeze. In the catalogue of Zao's solo exhibition in New York in 2003, Jonathan Hay wrote: 'Contrastingly,several other works favor understatement, with muted harmonies that are sometimes pointed up by a touch of more intense color.... Here the surfaces tend to be less worked and there is a particular lightness of touch. Between these two poles are situated all manner of hybrids in which Zao searches for an equilibrium between a saturated hue-a vermilion, an acid yellow-and more muted harmonies of color built around black/grey/brown/white brush traces that hint at an image.'(cf. Jonathan Hay, 'Zao Wou-ki, Lately' Zao Wou-ki Recent Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2003, p. 7)



Zao Wou-ki has come a l o n g w a y : f rom the peaceful, idyllic ambiences of his early concrete paintings, via the fervent, melodious clarity and magnificent momentum of his middle years, he has recently developed a more relaxed and freeflowing style of infinite proportions that amply displays his mature craftsmanship and artistic ingenuity. In his use of colour, the artist has reached a level of mastery that allows effortless and detailed articulation of the most exquisite variations of tone and shade. The observer is taken on a grand journey of sheer and unadulterated colour. Zao once said that he had to come to Paris only to discover China, and in his later works we indeed find traces of the Chinese tradition, tranquil sediments deeply rooted in the artist's subconscious that finally surface in his artistic expression and give his paintings a profundity that lingers in the viewer's mind. "15.02.2001"represents the Zao Wou-ki of the new millennium, an artist who has taken the giant leap from the 20th to the 21st century with unabated creative power, and who continues to impress with his graceful, unforced style.