Exhibition of late artist\u2019s work brings the second of mainland China\u2019s \u2018Three Musketeers\u2019 of modern art to the city, alongside Wu Guanzhong.<\/b>
\nThe abstract imagery and expressive colours of the late Chinese-French artist Zao Wou-Ki take centre stage in Hong Kong as the M+ museum presents Asia\u2019s first and largest retrospective of his print works \u2013 including lithographs and intaglios \u2013 opening on Saturday.
The show, titled \u201cZao Wou-Ki: Master Printmaker\u201d, will showcase nearly 180 exhibits that the museum has amassed from two separate donations by the late artist\u2019s wife, Fran\u00e7oise Marquet-Zao, and daughter, Sin-May Roy Zao.
Zao is regarded as one of the most influential abstract artists of the mid to late 20th century. One of his works, Juin-Octobre 1985, was auctioned at HK$510.4 million (US$65 million) in 2018 by Sotheby\u2019s in Hong Kong \u2013 a record in the city for an Asian artist.
The artist, whose works, particularly his oil paintings, remain staples of the auction market, once said: \u201cEveryone is bound by a tradition; I am bound by two.\u201d
Zao, together with Wu Guanzhong and Chu Teh-chun, were dubbed the \u201cThree Musketeers\u201d of Chinese modern art for their achievement in bridging Eastern and Western aesthetics.
His collection at M+, alongside Wu\u2019s extensive portfolio donated to the Hong Kong Museum of Art since 2018, makes the city unique in housing the largest number of works by two of the three masters.
\u201cThis kind of material really shows you a very personal, very intimate aspect of this modern master, which is also one of the goals of the exhibition, to really reveal a lesser-known aspect of this already very well-known master,\u201d Dr Wu Mo, Sigg curator of the museum, said.<\/p>\n