In Zao Wou–ki's memoirs there is a passage in which he recalls his month–long sea voyage from Shanghai to Paris, a trip that featured several stops on the way before he finally arrived in France for study on April 1, 1948. Zao had barely set foot in the city when he headed straight to the Louvre to feast his eyes on the masterpieces of Western art. He was thrilled by the prospect of immersing himself in the viewing and admiration of artistic works like never before, and for more than a year all he did was visiting museums, galleries and concerts–and learning French. During this period of time, he hardly painted at all, though he did the occasional sketch or block print. Later he spent a lot of time at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where he became acquainted with a number of fellow artists, many of which would go on to become renowned painters, such as Hans Hartung, Nicolas de Staël, Pierre Soulages, Vieira da Silva and Sam Francis.

In 1949, he won the first prize in a sketch competition for young artists, a great encouragement for Zao, who was still finding his way and direction in the world of painting. By May of the same year, he was able to hold his first solo exhibition in Paris, which was a big success.

Around 1950, Pierre Loeb, an eminent art dealer who had exhibited the paintings of countless grandmasters, and had famously declared to never act as an agent for Chinese painters, decided at the recommendation of the art critic Henri Michaux to buy as many as a dozen or so of Zao's pieces. It was the beginning of a long partnership. The year 1950 also marked the beginning of a tradition that saw Zao's paintings exhibited at the Salon de Mai on a regular basis for the next twenty something years. It was from here that Zao's artistic voyage truly took off.

In 1950, Zao’s early period works displayed the first inklings of his own characteristic lines and vibrant symbolism. It was during that period that Henri Michaux spotted the existence of a latent lyricism in Zao's paintings, which inspired him to write poems in their praise. Zao, an avid reader of classical Chinese poetry and practitioner of calligraphy since his early childhood, naturally had a deep understanding of vistas and imagery in both poems and pictures, in particular since in Chinese art poetry and painting often tend to melt into one. This affinity helped Zao to use uncomplicated forms and colors to attract the attention of his peers, such as Jean Dubuffet. And it was the sculptor Alberto Giacometti who once said that he particularly enjoyed the concrete, unveiled elements in Zao's paintings.

It was at this point that Zao put down his paintbrush to go on a trip through southern Europe, where the classical architecture of Italy and Spain especially caught the artist’s attention. The alluring Mediterranean coastline along with the symbols and the hallowed mood infused in the church murals he saw there became later sources of inspiration. As early as 1950, Zao had decided to focus his efforts on oil painting. Largely influenced by the mural paintings in churches and cathedrals, he spent much time on studying carefully how to employ a two–dimensional medium to produce a three–dimensional effect. He also explored different ways of composition and arrangement of objects in his paintings. The art critic Daniel Marchesseau expressed his appreciation this way: "Il retrouve alors une voie pour son pinceau, entre délés orientalisants et architectures classiques."(cf. the exhibition catalogue Zao Wou–ki 60 ans de peintures, published in Chinese by Sanlian Publishers, Shanghai, 1998, p. 22). Zao developed this particular style in the formative years of 1950 and 1951, and it would become the basis for his later artistic development towards an "abstract expressionism"

“Bateaux fond bleu,” a piece completed in 1951, takes its name from the French, meaning “A Ship on a Blue Background,” which also describes the arrangement of the ship in the painting. In truth, it is quite cleverly conceived. As Zao Wou–ki himself put it: "J'étais obsédé par l'idée? que je devais chaque jour trouver un sujet: un bateau, deux bateaux, trois bateaux, une nature morte, un paysage. Cela devenait un problème de mise en page, d'arrangement. Il fallait découvrir une variation, créer une atmosphére, rendre compte du présent."(Zao Wou–ki, Autoportrait, Librairie Arthéme Fayard, Paris, 1988). In this enthralling world of blue we see a moon hanging high in the sky; we see several small boats quietly sailing; and all around we are gripped by a blurred, shadowy mix of sky and sea that evokes the mysteriousness of an ancient cave painting.

“Bateaux fond bleu” combines the simple techniques of line art, line carving, and flat wash to produce a volume–less, weightless outline which is almost symbolist or abstract in the way it represents its images. It conveys the suspended, dreamlike fancy of a fairytale. The symbolism inherent in Zao’s line etchings of this period is heavily influenced by the surrealist Paul Klee, who himself had been inspired by the logograms of Eastern languages. Klee’s poetic symbolism—at once concrete and abstract—drew Zao back to the essential spirit of his Eastern roots and down the path of abstract art. Zao’s subsequent work combined new forms from both Eastern and Western art to contrive a graceful and distant mood, enhanced with artistic liveliness and elevated refinement. In the wave of Abstract Expressionism that struck the middle of the 20th Century, Zao flew a flag heralding his own artistic vision—truly a rarity for the time.