At its 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 8 July, Phillips presented two masterpieces by abstract master Zao Wou-Ki. Both are from the artist’s Hurricane Period - precipitated by the Zao's travels around the globe in the 1950s. These two artworks were expected to fetch in excess of HK$83m (US$10.7m) in total.
The works from Zao Wou-Ki’s Hurricane Period were often characterized by a central-axis composition. The artist segmented the composition by geometric shapes, such that the background was split into two large spaces, the colours in intense contrast. Both 22.6.63 and 24.10.63 are the vertical format heightening the sense of compression, whilst interwoven oil pigmented splashes and brushstrokes, full of visual agitation, add to the sense of bustling motion and bursting with energy enclosed within the monumental space.
Why give a title? I only give the date. I am not a poet. Titles are restrictive. I don't want to guide the person looking at it.
Zao Wou-Ki quoted in Grard de Cortanze, Zao Wou-Ki, Paris, 1998
Zao decided in 1958 that he would no longer give a title to his works, only marking them with their date of creation. 22.6.63 and 24.10.63, both executed within a few months of each other at the peak of the Hurricane Period, are prime examples of this new transcendental abstraction
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| Zao Wou-Ki 24.10.63 1963 146 x 89cm Estimate HK$45,000,000 - 65,000,000 Sold for HK$46,365,000 |
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| Zao Wou-Ki 22.6.63, 1963 194 x 97 cm Estimate HK$38,000 - 58,000,000 Sold for HK$54,310,000 |
22.6.63. The inky-black brushstrokes leaden against a crimson red background convey a thriving, pulsating latent energy beneath the surface of the canvas.
24.10.63. Sparse flying brushstrokes in stark black and brown hues are contrasted with one defiant scarlet red smudge.
Both artworks passed through the hands of the famous art dealer Samuel Kootz. Kootz was instrumental in encouraging Zao to creating large-format paintings in order to explore the Hurricanes in an unbridled way, and a breakthrough from the limited smaller canvases.
Both artworks passed through the hands of the famous art dealer Samuel Kootz. Kootz was instrumental in encouraging Zao to creating large-format paintings in order to explore the Hurricanes in an unbridled way, and a breakthrough from the limited smaller canvases.
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