In the 1960s, Zao Wou-Ki returned to Paris after completing his global journey spanning several years. He saw a panorama of fresh artistic ideas, and further inspired by a new romance with his second wife May-Kan who he met during that period of extended travel, Zao returned to his studio with a renewed energy. He embarked on his Hurrican Series, and it is this series of works that set him apart as the first post-war Asian artist to be considered an Abstract master on the international scene. It is with this series that he entered the golden era of his career. Appearing in the Spring sale this year, 05.11.62 (Lot 1019) is a representative work from this period. Bearing witness to the swift expansion of the artist’s global influence during 1960s, the work first appeared at the Laing Galleries in Toronto, which made outstanding contributions to post-war Abstract art. Another painting 26.04.62 shares the same colours, composition, and year of creation as the present lot, and was sold in Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong 2018 Spring sale for HK$85.3 million. Zao’s work is filled with a soaring spirit as he reached a triumphant peak both artistically and personally, and the present lot is poised to achieve exceptional results in the upcoming sale.
Featuring the classic composition of the Hurricane Period, 05.11.62 is a wild display of freely expressive brushstrokes traveling horizontally across the canvas. Meanwhile, a bright, green light breaks through the amber-coloured chaos, and a streak of black thunder strikes across the sky. The two forces meet and clash at the centre of the canvas to form a classic three-layer composition. When viewed alongside the previously mentioned 26.04.62, the larger of the two, the composition of 26.04.62 focuses on the horizontal expansion of space, whereas 05.11.62 is relatively tighter and more focused on the exploration of 3-demensional expansion. That suggests 05.11.62 was created after 26.04.62 to develop ideas first explored in in the earlier painting, hence displaying a more complete sense of space.
In the centre of 05.11.62, different colours twirl and twist, bursting with power from cosmic clashes, a projection of the artist’s own soaring emotions. Intertwining black lines travel downward from the centre, forming a diagonal composition whilst displaying features of naturalism found in Northern Song landscape paintings. Another work completed one year before the present lot, 19.01.61, offers a different example that also features a diagonal composition with an overall movement of colour that is heavier on top and lighter at the bottom. This shows that the core thinking of the earlier 19.01.61 was extended into 05.11.62. Both works were selected by the Laing Galleries to be introduced into Canada. Zao’s 1960s works featuring similar composition were highly treasured among North American art galleries and were regarded as representative of his artistic approach at the t.mes . Zao Wou-Ki’s 19.01.61 sold for HK$79.5 million in 2019’s Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong Spring sale, thus 05.11.62 will be a highly anticipated work from Zao’s Hurrican Series to appear in the upcoming Spring sale in Hong Kong.
When 05.11.62 was completed, the artist’s global development was going from strength to strength. Within Europe, Zao Wou-Ki had been collaborating closely with Galerie de France since mid-1950s, exhibiting widely across Paris, Turin, among other locations, while his first major museum retrospective was held in 1965 in Essen, Germany, further reinforcing his reputation in the European art scene. In America, Kootz Gallery, New York recruited Zao Wou-Ki as the gallery’s artist, generating a wave of intense interest in his art. In Canada, because of the French-speaking regions, new artistic trends from Paris were even more readily accepted. Blair Laing of Laing Galleries went to Paris in 1959 and he was deeply drawn to Zao’s “abstracts with dreamy oriental overtones.” Laing took Zao’s works to promote in Toronto and thus became the first champion of Zao’s art in Canada. In 1969, a second museum retrospective was held at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art and National Museum of Replica Handbags
s of Quebec, showing the reach of his art in North America. Bearing witness to this phase of history, 05.11.62 presents an opportunity not to be missed for interested collects
ors.
一九六〇年代，趙無極結束數年環球遊歷重返巴黎，期間邂逅第二任妻子美琴，在藝術新靈感以及甜蜜愛情的雙重激盪下，回歸畫室潛心創作，開闢「狂草系列」，並憑藉畫面氣勢磅礴、肆意馳騁的飽滿筆觸，營造情感奔騰、攝人心脾的曠闊宇宙，一躍成為戰後亞洲藝術家中首位問鼎國際抽象殿堂之大師，步入事業的黃金時段。是次春拍亮相之《05.11.62》（拍品編號1019）作為此時期的經典傑作，畫面蒼勁飽滿的色彩與雄渾壯闊的線條，孕育出震盪天地之脈動；其最早源自多倫多對於戰後抽象藝術卓有貢獻的萊茵畫廊，見證藝術家六〇年代全球藝術版圖迅猛擴張，臻至巔峰。與本畫色彩、構圖一脈相承、且創作年份相同之《26.04.62》在2018年香港蘇富比春拍中以85,263,500港幣成交，如今本畫釋於拍場，畫面滿載趙無極人生意氣風發之澎湃，必將再現時代鋒芒。
《05.11.62》採用狂草時期經典佈局，狂野筆觸橫向展開，一道碧綠色天光，從琥珀色混沌中破曉而出，橫貫畫面；同時一道黑色雷電從當空劃過，兩股力量於畫面中央正面交鋒，猶如盤古開天闢地，形成上、中、下經典的三段式構圖。若與前文提及之《26.04.62》並觀，兩幅作品一前一後，完成時間僅相隔數月，色彩構圖如出一轍，《26.04.62》尺幅稍大，構圖專注空間之橫向延伸，側重以銀幕式的水平波動之視覺感受；本次春拍中《05.11.62》之佈局則相對緊湊，在橫向構圖之外，更有突出縱向空間之發展，不難推測是前畫完成之餘意猶未盡的二次創作，整體空間感和立體維度顯得更為完整。
《05.11.62》畫面中央，色彩千迴百轉間，彷彿日光乍現，迸發出宇宙碰撞之能量，影射藝術家內心之情感飛揚；交纏的墨線沿此能量中心綿延而下，猶如氣力萬鈞之山脊，形成對角線式構圖，點出經典的北宋山水之自然主義特徵。本畫誕生前一年，趙無極創作過一幅靛藍之作《19.01.61》，並觀兩畫，畫面同樣採用對角線式構圖，且整體呈現上重下輕之色彩流動趨勢，可見趙無極創作《05.11.62》時將前畫之核心思路延續和傳承；兩幅畫作完成後均被萊茵畫廊甄選引入加拿大，足以說明趙無極六〇年代此類構圖的畫作，當年已受到北美畫壇的高度認可，並被視為當時創作風格之代表。《19.01.61》 2019年亮相於香港蘇富比春季拍賣，以港幣79,518,000成交，同一來源之《05.11.62》是次春拍亮相香港拍場，必將代表藝術家六〇年代初期最具代表性之構圖，以畫面抒發內心最純粹的昂揚情感，為「狂草系列」再添強音。
《05.11.62》誕生之時，藝術家全球性發展正進行得如火如荼：歐洲境內，趙無極自五〇年代中後期起與法蘭西畫廊緊密合作，展覽遍及巴黎、都靈等城市，1965年更在德國埃森舉辦首個博物館大型回顧展，進一步鞏固其在歐洲畫壇中堅不可摧之地位；在大洋彼岸的美國，同樣從五〇年代中後期開始，紐約庫茲畫廊在皮耶‧蘇拉吉的引薦下，將趙無極納為旗下重要藝術家，並開始高頻率地為其籌備個展，美國藝術界由此興起一股趙氏風潮；毗鄰的加拿大因境內有法語地區，對於來自巴黎的新興藝術更持以開放態度，萊茵畫廊主理人布萊爾·萊茵1959年前往巴黎為畫廊徵集藝術品時，在羅浮宮策展人查爾斯·斯特林的推薦下拜訪包括趙無極、皮耶‧蘇拉吉和漢斯·哈同等一眾抽象畫家，期間被趙無極筆下「極具夢幻色彩的抽象筆觸 」深深吸引，立下決心將其作品帶回多倫多推廣，由此成為首位將趙無極的藝術推廣之加拿大之伯樂，而在趙氏藝術熱潮之持續衝擊下，1969年藝術家在蒙特利爾當代藝術博物館及魁北克博物館舉辦第二次博物館回顧展，美學觸角由此深入美洲大地。《05.11.62》作為見證此段歷史的重要存在，不僅是趙無極個人藝術版圖擴張之佐證，更是戰後全球抽象藝術脈絡之樞紐，作品背後飽含的深刻歷史意義賦予藏家不容錯過之珍藏機遇。