Zao Wou-Ki loved blue, and this year’s Replica Shoes ’s Autumn Sale is delighted to offer two of his masterpieces in blue: 30.09.65 (Lot 1047) and 22.01.68 (Lot 1044). While these two works are similar in colour palette and composition, 22.01.68 was painted three years after 30.09.65. The 1968 painting is also smaller than the 1965 painting, showing his transition from a grand scale to a smaller one, as well as his mastery of colour and space in the 1960s. In this decade, Zao had ample t.mes and energy to focus on his work, attempting to present formless nature and express his own inner universe. In 22.01.68, the power of nature flows from the artist’s brush; the fluidity of the image does not simply evolve vertically or horizontally on the two-dimensional plane. The changing density and momentum of Zao’s brushwork give the impression of a swirling depth that absorbs and exudes energy, complementing the elastic tension created by the colours and offering a space for contemplation.

In contrast with the brooding, vigorous indigo of 30.09.65, it was the pure blue tones of the sea and sky that Zao Wou-Ki chose for 22.01.68. Following both unrestrained splashes and softer strokes of blue, accents of indigo and purple present a romantic and pure vision of the profound mysteries of nature. In the centre of the work, lines in lead white and blue-black vibrate, pulse, and tumble; they shift between fast and slow, light and heavy, weaving together graceful brilliance and almost musical rhythms. A close examination of the painting’s composition reveals that, in contrast to the concise rhythms in the centre of the painting, the diluted paint in the upper half and lower left parts of the work evoke the atmosphere of a Chinese ink painting. Zao’s painting career reached its peak in the 1960s, and he received countless invitations to exhibit from international museums and galleries. In 1965, Zao Wou-Ki held a retrospective at the Museum Folkwang in Essen and a solo show at the Albertina Graphische Sammlung. In 1967, he was invited to participate in “Ten Years of Living Art” with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and other well-known artists at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. In 1968, he also showed in the “Painting in France 1900-1967” traveling group exhibition, which brought his work to major American museums including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Boston Museum of Replica Handbags s. 22.01.68 was painted during this t.mes , and its abstract composition moves freely between terse vigour and lingering lyricism, offering a spiritual map of Zao’s career development and his understanding of life. As his life experience became richer, his emotions rose to the occasion and became bolder and more impassioned. A stone thrown into a pool creates ten thousand ripples. Even as things were changing constantly inside of him, the balance between passion and dignity in Zao Wou-Ki’s work fully expressed his composure and confidence.

藍色是趙無極鍾愛的顏色，是次秋拍蘇富比有幸徵得兩件藝術家靛藍傑作，《30.09.65》（拍品編號1047）與《22.01.68》（拍品編號1044），除用色外，兩幅作品之構圖亦十分相近，而《22.01.68》創作於《30.09.65》完成三年後，其尺幅較前畫稍小，兩畫一前一後，尺幅由宏大向精緻過渡，彰顯藝術家六〇年代對於色彩與空間收放自如的掌控能力。在這十年之間，藝術家有充份的時間與精力安心創作，他即關注如何呈現不著形迹的自然、表現潛藏內心的人文宇宙。在《22.01.68》中，自然的力量在畫家筆下運轉如意，畫面的流動不止於平面的橫向或縱向推移，隨著筆觸密度與動勢變化，更在縱深方面的迴環吞吐，配合色彩形成鬆緊張力，予人思路連翩的精神空間。

對比《30.09.65》中靛藍之雄渾蒼勁，趙無極在《22.01.68》中將藍彩回歸到海天最純然的藍色調，以大筆時而狂放揮灑，時而輕柔刷染，甫以靛紫細膩地點晴，呈現浪漫而純真的自然奧秘。中心鉛白與藍黑躍動、震顫的線條，跳動、翻滾，在一來一往的快、慢、輕、重間，交織出曼妙光華與樂曲般的韻律。細觀本畫構圖，相對畫面中央緊湊的節奏感，趙無極在上半與左下方，刻意使用稀釋的油彩，營造近似中國水墨畫裡大氣氤氲的美感。趙無極的繪畫事業在六〇年代如日中天，來自國際美術館、畫廊的展約不斷，如1965年，德國埃森的福克翁博物館、維也納的阿爾伯蒂娜藝術收藏館分別替他舉辦回顧展與個展；1967年，他受邀參加法國聖保羅的瑪格基金會舉行的「十年活著的藝術1955-1965」大展，與渥荷和李奇登斯坦等一時期風起雲湧的西方藝術名家一同展出；1968年他更參加「法國繪畫1900-1967」巡迴聯展，作品展出於華盛頓國立美術館、紐約大都會美術館、波士頓美術館等美國重要大型美術館，《22.01.68》即完成於這樣的背景之下，其畫面之抽象佈局在緊湊蒼勁與飄渺空靈之間自如往復，正是藝術家事業發展與生活感悟的精神映射，隨著生活的經歷而益發崢嶸，應運而生的內心情感亦更見慷慨激昂，一石投浪而迴響萬壑，而正中央風雲變幻之處，更是覆翻激盪，氣宇昂然之間全然展現藝術家成熟自若和自信自在。