Zao Wou-Ki’s artistic career flourished in Paris. He became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 2002, and his achievements were closely tied to the French art scene. In the post-war period, however, Paris was no longer the preeminent city for artists, as New York was on the rise as a global artistic centre. Intercontinental cultural exchanges became increasingly common in the 1950s, building bridges between Europe and the United States. Zao Wou-Ki was an important figure in this period. He, along with Pierre Soulages and Georges Mathieu, moved from Europe to America, while Sam Francis and Jean-Paul Riopelle made the reverse trip. In 1949, not long after he settled in France, Zao Wou-Ki opened his first solo show at Galerie Creuze. Two years later, he held a show at Galerie Pierre Loeb, which had represented Pablo Picasso and other masters. As this thirty-something Chinese artist advanced in his career in Paris, he attracted the attention of several American gallerists who frequently travelled to the city. Main Street Gallery in Chicago first introduced Zao Wou-Ki to the United States in 1952, and Cadby Birch Gallery organized his first New York solo show in November of that year. Zao was subsequently associated with Kleemann Gallery, who represented artists such as Hans Hartung. In 1958, at the introduction of Soulages, Zao signed with the well-known Kootz Gallery,¹ and in just a few short years, he found himself within the beating heart of the New York art scene. This access gave Zao Wou-Ki opportunities in both the European and American art worlds in the 1950s and 1960s. His paintings were purchased by top institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris.

In 1954, a feature in Life Magazine, entitled “Artist from East Is a Hit in West: Zao Wou-Ki Paints a Poetic World,” described Zao’s recent work in detail; the largest of these works was Untitled (Golden City) (Lot 1033), the painting offered in this season’s Replica Shoes ’s Modern Art Evening Sale:

After 1954, Zao Wou-Ki threw himself headlong into abstraction. Untitled (Golden City) received special mention in a feature that was read nationally, a sign that Zao’s career had reached a truly international milestone in the golden era of post-war art.

Untitled (Golden City) was painted from 1951 to 1952, when Zao Wou-Ki was travelling around Europe. This broadened his horizons, as he later described in his autobiography:

According to the first volume (1935-1958) of Zao Wou-Ki’s oil painting catalogue, he painted four paintings of Venice in 1951. A building that resembles the Basilica di San Marco is faintly visible at the top of the painting, and a typical Venetian square appears in the middle, confirming the connection between this work and the other pieces he painted in Venice that year. Two works in this series have been added to important museum collects ions: Piazza (Venise), which was purchased by the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris in 1951 and later transferred to the Centre Pompidou, as well as Untitled (Venise), which was donated to Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum by New York collects ors Benjamin and Lilian Hertzberg in 2007. Untitled (Golden City) has rich layers of space and gorgeous colours, rivalling the pieces in museum collects ions.

Not long after he finished Untitled (Golden City), the work was shown at Zao’s first New York solo exhibition at Cadby Birch Gallery in 1952 and collects ed by noted Franco-American fashion designer Pauline Trigère. According to Life Magazine, Trigère bought the work earlier than 1954. She had left Paris before World War II, settling in the United States in the 1930s. Zao Wou-Ki departed Paris after the war and developed his career in the United States in the 1950s. From the similarity of their life paths, we can surmise that when Trigère saw Zao’s work at Cadby Birch Gallery, she felt that her experience resonated with his and generously chose to support a young Parisian artist newly arrived in New York.

In the early 1950s, Zao Wou-Ki was still unfamiliar with European culture, and he would observe these new experiences through an alien lens. His works from this period certainly have an Eastern sensibility. Although Untitled (Golden City) was inspired by his t.mes in Venice, the spirit of the work can be traced to Wang River Villa (Wangchuan tu) by Tang painter Wang Wei. In addition to representing a beautiful scene of Venice’s billowing waves, the rare golden tones in Untitled (Golden City) stem from the magnificent green and gold landscapes of Tang-era painting. In Zao Wou-Ki’s work, the sumptuous Northern School of Tang painting is given a modern art treatment, but this quality is not unique to his work. A survey of the masterpieces offered in this sale reflect the influences of different schools of Tang painting, including Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita’s two paintings with gold leaf Maternité (Lot 1037) and Le chapeau de sa maman (Lot 1041), Soulages’ abstract masterpiece Peinture 125 x 202 cm, 30 Octobre 1958 (Lot 1034), and Li Huayi’s Free Mind in Peace (I) (Lot 1030). Venice was a key city in the Renaissance, and the Tang dynasty was the peak of Chinese painting; Zao Wou-Ki contrasts and fuses these two sources in Untitled (Golden City). He looks to history for creative inspiration, a resource that would become more prominent in his later Oracle Bone period.

Untitled (Golden City) was shown in “School of Paris 1959: The Internationals,” an important exhibition at the Walker Art Centre in 1959. This work was one of ten exhibits by Zao Wou-Ki; the show also included Untitled (Venise) in the collects ion of the Fogg Art Museum and Bateaux au clair de lune, which was offered at Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong auction in 2017. During the 1950s, the international art scene saw a struggle for primacy between Paris and New York. H. H. Arnason, then-director of the Walker Art Centre, wrote in the preface to the exhibition catalogue that the goal of the exhibition was to chart the parallel development of abstract painting in Europe and the United States, and to offer clear evidence of the creativity of the New School of Paris. This Walker Art Centre exhibition reaffirmed the continued influence of Paris as a centre of twentieth-century art, and the show had two meanings for Zao Wou-Ki personally. First, the exhibition represented the first t.mes that Zao had been incorporated into the School of Paris as a Chinese artist since he arrived in France. Second, it represented his rapid acceptance by the American art world and his inclusion in art historical discussions at a museum level after his arrival in the United States. Untitled (Golden City) witnessed Zao Wou-Ki’s artistic development in the 1950s, giving it immeasurable value for collects ors.

趙無極的國際藝術事業起步與蓬勃都在巴黎，後來更獲選為法蘭西藝術院士，其傲人的成就與法國藝壇步步掛鉤，不可分割；然而對於活躍在戰後年代的年輕藝術家們，巴黎已非他們的唯一立足點，隨著紐約迅速冒起成為另一嶄新而精彩的世界藝術中心，五〇年代的國際藝術交流變得頻繁，築起了一段橫跨歐美兩大板塊的重要橋樑，而趙無極即是貢獻這歷史篇章的重要一員，與之並肩而行的有從歐洲發展到美州的皮耶・蘇拉吉和喬治・馬修，亦有逆行而至的山姆・弗朗西斯和讓–保羅・里奧佩爾。趙無極旅居法國後不久，便於1949年巴黎克勒茲畫廊舉行首次個展，兩年後又在曾代理畢加索及胡安・米羅等大師的著名皮耶・勒布畫廊辦展；這位來自東方、三十出頭的藝術家在巴黎展開了如此順遂的仕途，引起了一些經常走訪巴黎的美國畫商關注：芝加哥的主街畫廊率先在1952年將趙無極介紹到美國，卡德比・畢趣畫廊緊隨於同年11月為其舉辦首個紐約個展；其後藝術家又與曾代理漢斯・哈同等德裔先鋒的克里曼畫廊建立關係，再於1958年經皮耶・蘇拉吉的推薦下與鼎鼎大名的庫茲畫廊簽約，短短數年間成功取得闖進紐約畫壇核心的黃金鑰匙，造就了趙無極間五、六〇年代在歐美藝壇雙線發展的精彩機遇，其知名度自此大增，作品亦迅速深入兩岸頂尖博物館館藏，包括所羅門・R・古根漢美術館、芝加哥藝術學院及巴黎現代藝術博物館等。
1954年，美國家喻戶曉的《生活雜誌》發佈專題「在西方風靡一時的東方藝術家：趙無極畫中的詩意世界」，以三頁彩圖詳盡介紹其近期作品，當年傑克遜・波洛克迅速在美國成名亦與《生活雜誌》所出版的內容甚有關係，而這次更屬首度有西方主流媒體為趙無極的藝術剖析定位，意義重大；當中佔據最大篇幅的，是本季登臨蘇富比現代藝術晚間拍賣之《無題（黃金城市）》（拍品編號1033）：

1954年以後，趙無極全速進入抽象時代，畫中的具象線條已經不復存在，《無題（黃金城市）》榮獲專題特寫並廣傳美國藝壇，不僅是趙無極的事業發展面向國際並漸上軌道的實證，亦代表了藝術家早年風格的經典之最，直追戰後藝壇的黃金時代。

《無題（黃金城市）》誕生於1951至1952年間，其時趙無極正展開遊歷歐洲之旅，種種嶄新經歷讓藝術家的眼界大開，創作靈感持續湧現，其後來於自傳中亦提到此段重要的人生階段：

據趙無極油畫全集第一冊（1935至1958年）的載錄，趙無極曾於1951年內創作過四幅以威尼斯為題的畫作，內容描畫地標聖馬可廣場及四圍文藝復興時期的精緻建築，若將《無題（黃金城市）》與幾幅作品比較，可見本作上方隱現一座與聖馬可大教堂外型相似的雄偉建築物，中方則體現威尼斯獨有的廣場佈局，上演一幕飛鳥群集、遊戲人間的日常戲碼，構圖中的種種線索，均可讓我們確立本作與同年的威尼斯系列源自一脈；此系列的兩幅作品，亦早已納入世界重要博物館藏之中，包括巴黎現代藝術博物館自1951年購藏、及後轉至龐比度藝術中心之《廣場（威尼斯）》，以及由紐約藏家赫茲伯格伉儷於2007年饋贈哈佛大學福格美術館之《無題（威尼斯）》，一件坐鎮歐洲、另一件則遠赴美洲，如今《無題（黃金城市）》現身亞洲最重要拍場，並置而觀即可見本作的空間層次更顯豐富、金黃閃爍的主調尤為瑰麗，絕對媲美博物館珍藏。

《無題（黃金城市）》完成後不久，便展出於1952年趙無極在卡德比・畢趣畫廊的首個紐約個展，可見藝術家對此滿意程度極高，並特意挑選本作作爲代表其出征美國藝壇的精彩鉅獻。十三世紀馬可・勃羅的遠航歷史，令威尼斯這數百年來成爲了旅行探險的文學象徵與歷史地標，而二十世紀戰後時代的紐約，又是雲集從各方遠征而來的藝術家的文化大都會，兩個城市相距甚遠，卻以擁護與外來文化交流為重要的共通點；本作中一幕遊歷異地的風光，與身處紐約的觀眾自然地產生了強烈的共鳴，包括本作的第一任藏家——法裔美籍著名時裝設計師寶琳・特里格爾。按《生活雜誌》的出版引述，特里格爾於1954年或以前已珍藏本作，她在二戰前離開巴黎，並於三〇年代起旅居美國，而趙無極則在戰後抵達巴黎，並於五〇年代起到美國發展；二人的年代相隔二十載，發展軌跡卻非常相近，推測特里格爾在卡德比・畢趣畫廊首度遇見趙無極的作品時，或感受到筆者與自身的經歷呼應，因而慷概購藏本作，並對首度闖蕩紐約的年輕巴黎畫派藝術家予以支持。

法國詩人亨利・米修為趙無極於1952年卡德比・畢趣畫廊展覽的目錄寫過一篇序言，當中生動地描述了藝術家此時的繪畫風格飽含詩意的表現，並為《無題（黃金城市）》提供了一個精彩的闡釋角度：「欲露還掩、似斷還連，線條隨興游走，描繪出遐思的脈動，這是趙無極喜歡的。驀然間，畫面躍動著一片中國城鎮鄉村特有的喜氣，在滿園的符號之中，洋溢著歡騰愉悅與溫柔婉轉。」米修素來欣賞趙無極的創作，並曾為其八幅版畫寫詩歌頌，他在此段評論中所寫的「中國城鎮特有的喜氣」，與以上提及趙無極所自述的「意大利景致有若中國江南」，觀念上如出一轍；五〇年代初，趙無極對歐洲文化與建築面貌依然陌生，在遊歷時也不期然地利用了紮根於東方的意識底蘊去觀察異鄉，並發掘與故鄉相似之處，因此此時期的城觀主題畫作，亦經常散發著一種若隱若現的東方情調。《無題（黃金城市）》的創作靈感雖然是源於一次到訪威尼斯的難忘經歷，其精神內涵卻似是溯源至唐代王維的《輞川圖》，樓閣城鎮觀景層層深入，在群山環繞間盡顯磅礴，意境卻淡泊超脫，畫中線條猶如詩句，讓人陶醉其中。本作更罕有地採用金光碧色的色調，除了重現威尼斯終日水波瀲灩、蕩漾閃光的一番美景，更與唐代繪畫成就最為輝煌的「金碧山水」一脈相承，塑成米修從作品中所感悟到的東方氣質。在趙無極的筆下，北宗唐風的富麗堂皇與雄沉氣象，得以在現代藝術的領域裡承傳下去，而這種特質並非趙氏畫中特有，綜觀本場拍賣的大師作品，可見唐風經歷千年演變，早已經不同流派開枝散葉：藤田嗣治從狩野派的金屏風裡提煉出唐繪嚴謹而繁富用色，並在《聖母子像》（拍品編號1037）與《媽媽的禮帽》（拍品編號1041）兩幅金箔畫作中透徹運用、蘇拉吉在遊歷日本後揮筆首作金墨雙色抽象鉅獻《畫作 125 X 202厘米，1958年10月30日 》（拍品編號1034）、墨色與金色之間的張力再於李華弌取法高古的《逸意寧遠（一）》（拍品編號1030）中表露無遺。威尼斯是意大利文藝復興的重要據點，而唐代則是中國繪畫的盛世時期，趙無極於《無題（黃金城市）》中巧妙地將兩源對比、繼而融合，造就其回溯歷史洪流、汲取美學靈感的創作方向，為後來的「甲骨文系列」留下伏筆。

除了1952年卡德比・畢趣畫廊的重要展歷，《無題（黃金城市）》於五〇年代曾參與的另一重要展覽是沃克藝術中心於1959年舉辦的〈巴黎畫派1959年：國際藝術家〉群展，參與的藝術家包括皮耶・蘇拉吉、漢斯・哈同、讓-保羅・里奧佩爾及卡雷爾・阿佩爾等八位藝術家。本作是趙無極十件展品之一，其餘展品包括以上提到的哈佛大學福格美術館館藏《無題（威尼斯）》，以及曾於2017年香港蘇富比上拍之《月滿千帆》。是次以「巴黎畫派」命名並在美國重要博物館舉行的展覽，在戰後藝術史上的意義甚大：五〇年代的國際藝壇，是一場巴黎與紐約的爭霸角力，駐足美國的藝評家與策展人固然偏袒「紐約畫派」為唯一的戰後藝術先鋒，而在如此激烈批判的氛圍中，時任沃克藝術中心館長阿納森特別在展覽圖錄的序言中提到，其策展宗旨便是爲了釐清抽象繪畫在歐美平衡雙軌發展的進程，並以確切的證據，還原一眾新巴黎畫派成員的獨創性。這次沃克藝術中心的展覽，不僅重塑了巴黎畫壇的形象，並重申巴黎作爲二十世紀藝術中心的持續影響力，而在於趙無極個人層面而言，更含有雙重的寓意：其一即是代表其自1948年旅居法國以來，首度以華裔藝術家的身份有系統地被歸類為「巴黎畫派」成員之一，其二更代表藝術家自1952年赴美發展以來，迅速獲取美國藝壇的廣泛認同，並編入重要博物館的藝術史論述當中；《無題（黃金城市）》參與其中，一路見證著趙無極於五〇年代至為關鍵的發展軌跡，其收藏價值不容置疑。