As of Mar 26, 2025

Zao Wou-Ki

Lot 30
Great Ship Entering a Habour, 1952
Oil on canvas

18.5 x 22.4 in (47.0 x 57.0 cm)

Lot 30
Great Ship Entering a Habour, 1952
Oil on canvas
18.5 x 22.4 in (47.0 x 57.0 cm)

Estimate: HK$ 7,000,000 - 9,000,000
€ 834,000 - 1,100,000
Auction: 4 days

China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.

Auction: Apr 07, 2025 02:00 PM
Auction number: 330
Auction name: Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art

The auction house is not yet a partner of Auction Spotter.
you are China Guardian (HK) Auctions Co., Ltd.?

Become a partner and present your offers in an optimal waychevron_right

Lot Details
Signed in English and Chinese on bottom right; signed in English and dated on the reverse. The above quote is from an extensive report published in the February 1954 issue of Life magazine in the United States, titled Artist from the East - Zao Wou-Ki. The article featured four of Zao's works, three of which were painted in 1952. During this period, the artist's paintings used light and agile black lines against a dreamy, misty backdrop of colour, depicting scenes such as eye-catching church landscapes, wilderness scenes, and still life objects. This also indicates that the first major success in Zao's creative journey after arriving in France in 1948 and spending years in tireless exploration first started to bear fruit in 1952. At this point, the artist had already developed his own highly distinctive style, which quickly gained him recognition from the academic world and art collectors. It was in that year Zao Wou-Ki was invited to hold solo exhibitions at the Patti Birch Gallery in New York and the Main Street Gallery in Chicago. In Paris, he signed a two-year contract with the renowned Galerie Pierre. At that time, Zao lit up the sky like a brilliant comet and left his mark on Europe and the United States. Today, Zao Wou-Ki is recognised as a giant of Chinese abstract painting and his works can be found in the collections of more than 150 major art museums and institutions around the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum and the Tate in London, and the Ishibashi Museum of Art in Tokyo. Furthermore, in the 1968 edition of History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture & Photography detailing the progress of modernism from the 19th to 20th centuries, compiled by renowned American art historian Harvard Arnason, a must-read work for anyone interested in the history of modern art of the past 20 years or more, the only Chinese artists featured are Zao Wou-Ki and I. M. Pei. This affirms Zao's elevated status in terms of post-World War II modern art development in both the East and West. In this spring auction, we are honoured to present Great Ship Entering a Harbour, an important work rich in a wide range of elements and imbued with an epic composition, created during the artist's first creative peak in 1952.
Lot Details
Signed in English and Chinese on bottom right; signed in English and dated on the reverse. The above quote is from an extensive report published in the February 1954 issue of Life magazine in the United States, titled Artist from the East - Zao Wou-Ki. The article featured four of Zao's works, three of which were painted in 1952. During this period, the artist's paintings used light and agile black lines against a dreamy, misty backdrop of colour, depicting scenes such as eye-catching church landscapes, wilderness scenes, and still life objects. This also indicates that the first major success in Zao's creative journey after arriving in France in 1948 and spending years in tireless exploration first started to bear fruit in 1952. At this point, the artist had already developed his own highly distinctive style, which quickly gained him recognition from the academic world and art collectors. It was in that year Zao Wou-Ki was invited to hold solo exhibitions at the Patti Birch Gallery in New York and the Main Street Gallery in Chicago. In Paris, he signed a two-year contract with the renowned Galerie Pierre. At that time, Zao lit up the sky like a brilliant comet and left his mark on Europe and the United States. Today, Zao Wou-Ki is recognised as a giant of Chinese abstract painting and his works can be found in the collections of more than 150 major art museums and institutions around the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum and the Tate in London, and the Ishibashi Museum of Art in Tokyo. Furthermore, in the 1968 edition of History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture & Photography detailing the progress of modernism from the 19th to 20th centuries, compiled by renowned American art historian Harvard Arnason, a must-read work for anyone interested in the history of modern art of the past 20 years or more, the only Chinese artists featured are Zao Wou-Ki and I. M. Pei. This affirms Zao's elevated status in terms of post-World War II modern art development in both the East and West. In this spring auction, we are honoured to present Great Ship Entering a Harbour, an important work rich in a wide range of elements and imbued with an epic composition, created during the artist's first creative peak in 1952.

18 other works by Zao Wou-Ki Show all chevron_right

You might also be interested in Show allchevron_right
today | Saffronart
S H Raza
114 Bindu Visarg , 2009
Acrylic on canvas
€ 211,000 - 317,000
6 days | Artcurial
LEE Ufan
187 Correspondence , 1996
Gouache et pastel sur papier
€ 35,000 - 55,000
7 days | Aguttes
SAYED HAIDER RAZA
14 Prem-Bindu , 2007
Acrylic on canvas
€ 30,000 - 50,000
7 days | Sotheby's Paris
Kumi Sugaï
41 Composition Rouge , -0001
gouache sur papier
€ 15,000 - 20,000
7 days | Sotheby's Paris
Kumi Sugaï
34 Mercure , -0001
huile sur toile
€ 12,000 - 18,000
5 days | K Auction
Ha ChongHyun
33 접합 20-25 (P) , 2020
handmade silkscreen
€ 10,000 - 19,000

Wou-Ki Zao Artist presented in curated searches
Art auctions - from all over the world
- At a glance!
Art auctions - from all over the world
At a glance!
ios_instruction