SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The Chinese painter and printmaker Zao Wou-Ki, who became a French citizen in 1964, received a training shaped by several traditions. In 1935, he entered the École des beaux-arts de Hangzhou, where he studied drawing from plaster casts and models, oil painting and traditional Chinese painting, as well as Western perspective and calligraphy. Appointed an assistant at his school in 1941, he presented his first exhibition in Chongqing that same year. In Paris, he learned French at the Alliance française and attended Othon Friesz’s classes at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière; at the Desjobert printing works, he trained in lithographic techniques.
In 1951, an exhibition of prints organised by Nesto Jacometti in Bern and Geneva introduced him to the work of Paul Klee. From 1952, his work was regularly exhibited in Paris, followed by Basel and Lausanne. In 1954, a retrospective of his printed work opened at the Cincinnati Art Museum. In the 1960s, his work turned towards lyrical abstraction; Chinese ink painting and calligraphy were also among the forms it took.
Works listed by the Art Institute of Chicago include L. III, dated spring 1959, and The Night Is Stirring (Anger), from 1956. An auction catalogue describes No. 6, Composition sur fond jaune as a watercolour on paper, signed and dated 1991, measuring 25 × 35 cm. In 1983, welcomed in Beijing, he saw his works exhibited at the National Museum of China.
This profile brings together identity references for Zao Wou-Ki and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
5 references are documented at Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, Sotheby’s, Kornfeld. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Watercolour on paper
No. 6, Composition sur fond jaune, 1991
aquarelle sur papier
Catalogue period : 2025-10-28
Published result : 50810 CHF
Including buyer’s premium
Estimate : CHF 30000–40000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Ohne Titel
watercolour
Catalogue period : 2022-06-17
Published result : 80000 CHF
Hammer price, excluding fees
Estimate : CHF 90000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Oil on gauze, mounted on cardboard
Catalogue period : 2021-09-17
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 100000
View the lot at the auction house ↗Property from an Important Private Swiss Collector Zao Wou-Ki 1921 - 2013 Untitled, 1995 Ink on paper Signed and dated lower right 105.4 x 102.5 cm (unframed); 133.5 x 129.4 cm (framed) The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Fondation Zao Wou-Ki. This work will be included in the fo
Catalogue period : 2021-06-08 — 2021-06-15
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : 80000 – 120000 CHF
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Ohne Titel
watercolour
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
