Zao Wou-Ki - 03.12.67
Zao Wou-Ki’s Hurricane Period (1959-1972) represents his creative peak. During this period, immense creativity erupted in the artist’s life, giving birth to paintings full of visual impact and artistic tension. The canvases abound in unfettered generative energy, and forceful brushstrokes that resemble hurricane-like calligraphy evince an extraordinary vigour and reveal Zao’s confidence and charm. 03.12.67 (Lot 1037), presented in this season’s Evening Sale, is one such work from Zao’s Hurricane Period. This classic piece has a succinct yet powerful composition, with the trademark central axis that appeared in his work for more than a decade.
03.12.1967 was painted in the last month of 1967, during the second half of Zao Wou-Ki’s Hurricane Period. The choice of the dimensions, the treatment of the composition, and the handling of the colours are all externalizations of the energy of his hurricane-like abstractions, handled with a masterful touch. Zao had already attempted similar compositions between 1963 and 1965, including 15.02.65, which was offered as part of the Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong Modern Art Evening Sale in 2019. In 03.12.67, rapidly expanding torrents of ink lines enter the work from both the right and left sides, colliding in the centre. The work is unique for the soft energy that permeates the entire painting. The horizontal central axis seems inherited from a traditional landscape encompassing mountains, water, sky, and earth; the focal point sits in the middle, with voids at the top and bottom. From a distance, it has the simple elegance of a misty southern Chinese landscape by Northern Song master Dong Yuan, in which, to quote Mi Fu’s praise of his work, “mountains and hills appear and disappear, mists and haze emerge and submerge.” The calligraphic lines full of hurricane energy reflect the ultimate fusion of Eastern tradition and Western abstraction. Zao’s use of colour during his Hurricane Period demonstrates his extraordinary mastery of subtle colour variations. In the three or four years from 1963 to early 1966, fresh, bold hues such as bright yellow shift toward subtler, more mature colours. The golden tones of 03.12.67 resemble the lingering light of the setting sun. The surging vitality of the Hurricane Period gives the work a rhythmic charm and a softness concealed behind strength.
Zao Wou-Ki’s Hurricane Period was not simply his personal creative peak; it also represented the post-war transformation and rebirth of Chinese and even Asian art, which had been brewing since the late nineteenth century. As post-war artists, Zao and his international compatriots had endured the fires of war and witnessed the passage from life to death. Only after seeing the brutality of destruction could one truly appreciate the dignity and value of rebirth. 03.12.67 contains the immense energy of a phoenix rising from the ashes. Zao created a vibrant, magnificent realm all his own, marked by a new coexistence between the Eastern and Western spirits in abstract painting.
《03.12.67》
1959至1972年的「狂草時期」，標誌著趙無極的創作巔峰；此時，藝術家爆發最強大的創作力量，誕生一幅幅充滿視覺震撼與藝術張力的作品，畫布處處流露源源不絕的創作激情，如狂草般馳騁的筆觸展現出非凡的磅礡氣勢，盡顯藝術家的自信與魅力。本季晚拍呈獻之《03.12.1967》（拍品編號xxxx），展現「狂草時期」作品中，緊湊而力量賁張的構圖的作品，其標誌性的中軸式結構更貫徹趙無極整整十多年的創作歲月，乃此時期的作品中之經典範例。
《03.12.67》創作於1967年的最後一個月，誕生於趙無極「狂草時期」的後半階段，因此無論在作品尺幅的選擇、構圖處理以至色彩調控方面，均展現藝術家對狂草抽象的能量外化，有著更爐火純青的掌握：若參考本作誕生前的作品，更能發現趙無極在1963至1965年之間已經開始嘗試以類似構圖創作，其中上拍於2019年香港蘇富比現代藝術晚拍的《15.02.65》即為一例。在《03.12.67》，可見迅疾膨湃的狂草墨線從左右兩邊進入畫面，並交擊於中央，其獨特之處在於整體畫面的能量柔化：橫向中軸式的結構猶有傳統山水佈局的承續，包攬山、水、天、地，並以上下虛而中間實的構圖呈現，遠觀猶如北宋大家董源筆下的一片煙雨江南，瀰漫著「峰巒出沒，雲霧顯晦」的樸實高古，畫面上富有狂草力量的書法線條，則展現東方傳統及西方抽象的極致交融；色彩運用方面，更充分展現趙無極在「狂草時期」對於微妙的色彩變化之非凡掌握，從1963至1966年初的三、四年間，傾向較鮮明大膽如明黃色調之運用，過渡至更成熟自如的色彩調控。《03.12.67》的金黃主調如夕陽映照下的落日餘暉，在「狂草時期」蓬勃澎湃的生命力之上，添上一抹強中帶柔的節奏韻味。
趙無極的「狂草時期」，不止是個人的創作巔峰，也代表了中國乃至亞洲藝術，經歷了十九世紀末年以來的漫長追趕，終於在二戰之後轉型新生；作為戰後藝術家的一群，趙無極與他的國際同儕，遭受過戰火塗炭，也經歷過生死契闊。唯有知道毀滅的殘酷，才更珍惜新生的崇高與可貴。《03.12.1967》所蘊藏的，正是一股火鳳凰湼槃重生的巨大能量，在抽象繪畫中締造東西方精神融滙共生的嶄新境地，成為波瀾壯闊的「無極域界」的創世紀錄。