Zao Wou-Ki came to prominence in the European art scene in the mid-1950s, but he left Paris for the United States in autumn 1957 in search of new inspiration and opportunities. During his travels, he met Samuel Kootz, proponent of American Abstract Expressionism and owner of the Kootz Gallery. Zao also met young Abstract Expressionists Franz Kline and Philip Guston, artists Kootz represented. In 1959, Zao married Chan May-Kan, and inspired by the beginnings of his second marriage as well as the art of Abstract Expressionism, he thus returned to Paris. Both his romantic and professional life had reached new heights, and he fully immersed himself in his Hurricane Period. He said, ‘The source of my inspiration is my inner world. Apart from my internal requirements, I don’t have any other considerations. I don’t need guidance from anyone, as long as I think the inspiration is big and strong enough.’ 14.12.62 (Lot 1046) is a classic piece from this period in Zao’s career. Through the interaction between light and space, he explored the natural philosophy of the larger universe. The year after the painting was finished, the piece was shown at a solo exhibition entitled Zao Wou-Ki at Galerie de France in Paris and the Redfern Gallery in London, offering viewers a new admixture of Eastern and Western elements within abstract painting.

The composition of 14.12.62 is vertical. Lines intertwined with colours climb a central axis to create a tense, focused nucleus of energy. This work is the result of Zao Wou-Ki’s explorations of space after his return from New York, and this composition is one of the best representations of his Hurricane Period. The painting was very likely inspired by Zao’s encounters with New York architecture during his many trips to the city. In contrast to the classical, elegant European architecture of Paris, New York modern and industrialised cityscape boasted block after block of skyscrapers. Dazzling rays of sunlight filter through the cracks between the buildings to reach the street, which echo the painting’s vertical halo surrounding a central axis.

14.12.62 depicts a column of light, a form that other Abstract Expressionists, such as colour field painter Barnett Newman, had explored. In his Onement series, large blocks of colour are divided by a vertical line, appearing as though the two pieces had been zipped together by light. This slender line represents Newman’s rather philosophical analysis of the meaning of art and existence. Onement does not represent any particular object, but the concept of ‘One’ in the title reflects the unity of all things in the universe. Newman called it, ‘The beginning of my present life,’ a sent.mes nt that echoes the concept of ‘all-pervading unity’ from Eastern philosophy.

Inspired by Newman, Zao Wou-Ki created an emotional resonance with the viewer through light and space in 14.12.62. A deep ivory black and bright chartreuse fuse and transform into one another. The black lines at the bottom of the painting seem to propel the intense halo in the centre. The energy gradually shifts from dark to bright, moving toward the central axis before it rises to the top. He creates a three-dimensional sensory experience on a two-dimensional plane, echoing the pursuit of the sublime in Newman’s work. The vertical organisation of 14.12.62 reflects Zao’s structural explorations of light and space, but it also portrays his joy at major breakthroughs in his art and life in the 1960s. Zao was rooted in the present, while looking back to the past and forward into the future; he elevated the uncertainties of fate into the living halo of the universe. The energy that dances, transfigures, splits, and clings in the centre of the image seems to rise to the top in an endless cycle.

Eastern Calligraphy and Action Painting

Eastern script and calligraphy were important avenues for exploration that expanded on the automatic writing of Abstract Expressionism. The reckless, free lines in the black and white works of Zao’s friend Franz Kline were inspired by the buildings that rose as America industrialized. The dark ink lines give the images a lively energy. Similarly, in 14.12.62, Zao created bold yet flexible calligraphic lines with a Western round brush, flat brush, and palette knife, suddenly elevating the expressive space of traditional writing. The immense spatial impact in the painting was an important test of Zao’s skill with a brush and ability to create harmony in a composition. When he painted 14.12.62, he started using only his wrist, then he began to involve his arm, and even his entire body in order to achieve this bold, free effect. Zao created a sensibility akin to Jackson Pollock’s action paintings, but in a different way. 14.12.62 encompasses the boldness of American abstraction and the depth of Chinese traditional culture, infusing post-war abstraction with a new synthesis of Chinese and Western civilization.

五〇年代中期，在歐洲畫壇日漸嶄露頭角的趙無極，於1957年秋天離開巴黎，前往美國找尋新的靈感及機遇，旅途期間結識了美國抽象表現主義主要推手、庫茲畫廊主理人賽謬爾·庫茲，以及庫茲當年力推的年輕抽象表現主義藝術家弗朗茨·克萊恩、飛利浦·加斯頓等。1959年,趙無極與第二任妻子陳美琴成婚，同時深受抽象表現主義的啟發，回到巴黎後無論愛情或事業皆回歸巔峰狀態，全面邁入探索抽象本質的「狂草時期」，畫面徹底擺脫物象干擾，直指內在精神與情感，如其所言：「我的靈感源頭是我的內在世界……除了我的內在要求，沒有其他考慮，在這一點上，我不需要接受任何人的指導，只要我自己認為它夠強、夠大。」（趙無極《趙無極自畫像》）《14.12.62》（拍品編號1046）作為趙無極此階段之經典代表，以光線和空間的相互作用，探索宏觀宇宙之自然哲學，完成翌年即於巴黎法蘭西畫廊及倫敦雷德芬畫廊雙城聯辦的《趙無極》個展中展出，藉此契機向世人展現抽象繪畫版圖中一條糅合西東的全新線索。

《14.12.62》之構圖呈現垂直分佈，畫面筆觸沿中心縱軸連接天地，透過縫隙照亮四周。此頂天立地的垂直構圖最早在藝術家五〇年代的作品中已有跡可尋，現藏於芝加哥藝術學院《夜之騷動》（1956）即為其中代表，畫面以漫天升騰的文字符號懷古追遠、營造的神秘的氛圍；區別於前畫，《14.12.62》沿畫面中軸，通過線條與色彩的相互纏繞與作用，形成緊密而集中的能量中心，這是趙無極自紐約返回巴黎後對於空間探索的新成果，亦成為前後貫穿整個「狂草時期」最具代表性的構圖之一。它形成的靈感極有可能來自藝術家此前多次造訪紐約時對於這座城市構造的回應，區別於巴黎古典而華麗的歐式建築風格，紐約充滿了現代工業化都市的摩登感，摩天大樓鱗次櫛比，層疊的陽光透過大樓間隙直射於街面，令人目眩，尤其呼應畫中匯聚中軸上下鼎立之光暈。

同時，《14.12.62》中著重刻畫的垂直性光線亦是同時期其他抽象表現主義藝術家致力探索的形式，趙無極通過庫茲畫廊結識的色域繪畫代表人物巴內特·紐曼即為其中之一，他曾表示「藝術的真正價值就在於解決『生死、主觀與客觀、悲劇 』等哲學問題。」他1948年開啟的《太一》系列作品皆以一條垂直而下的線條分割大色塊，如同一條閃光的鏈條（Zip），被其稱之為「光之條紋」。這條直線浮動於大色塊之上，構成兩種力量之對抗，大幅提升畫面空間感及視覺張力，引導觀者在注視畫面層疊的色彩時，自然衍生出一種被畫面包圍般的心理衝擊。在視覺表現力之外，這條細線亦代表了紐曼結對於藝術及存在意義一種近乎哲學層面的剖析， 它並非代表為某種特定的事物，而是以系列名稱中的「一」為線索，從宏觀角度解釋生命萬物存在之完整性，並被藝術家解釋為「今生之始」，尤為呼應東方哲學中「一以貫之」之思想。

受紐曼之啟發，趙無極在《14.12.62》中通過光線和空間營造與觀者的情感共鳴，深邃的象牙黑與明亮的黃綠彩互相轉化、融合，底部的黑色線條，彷彿催生了中間的強烈光暈，由四周向中線由暗至強漸變，形成一種向上抬升的方向指引，在二維平面營造三維的感官體驗，呼應紐曼作品中對於「崇高感」的追求。另一方面，《14.12.62》的垂直性結構不但是藝術家結合光線和空間的結構性探索，更是其六〇年代藝術和人生實現雙重突破的重要情感演繹，代表其個人意志的一道不滅之光。藝術家立足當下、回顧過往、展望未來，將命運之起伏昇華至宇宙鴻蒙之生命光韻，於畫面中心舞動、變幻、分裂、匯聚能量儲蓄的頂峰，循環不息，令人心生景仰。

東方書道與行動繪畫

在抽象浪潮席捲全球的過程中，從中世紀宗教藝術、非洲、大洋洲原始藝術、東方文字和書道等多元文化中汲取養分。其中東方文字與書道是延續抽象表現主義中自動性書寫的一個重要探索方向，趙無極好友弗朗茲·克萊恩即在他的黑白系列中，以美國工業發展時期各種建築物為靈感恣意揮灑線條，強烈且原始氣息濃郁的墨線予以畫面生氣蓬勃的能量，一如藝術家在《14.12.62》中以西方的畫筆、排筆和畫刀傳遞書法線條之剛勁與柔韌，激盪的線條在靜謐中席捲而上，傳遞旺盛、噴薄的生命潛能，驟然昇華傳統書寫文字的表現空間。同時，畫面巨大的空間衝擊感是對於趙無極用筆技巧和協調能力的重要考驗，創作時唯有揮動手腕、啟用手臂甚至全身之力，才能達到自由揮灑的效果，這與波洛克提倡之行動繪畫亦有異曲同工之妙。趙無極自幼接受傳統筆墨訓練，成年後則長期投身西方世界，從創作理念及方法的角度而言，《14.12.62》兼容美式抽象主義的豪邁奔放與中國傳統文化的深厚底蘊，為戰後抽象主義風格注入了嶄新思路，是其匯通中國與西方文明之重要成果。