Zao Wou-Ki’s collection was auctioned for RMB 1.8 billion at Poly Auction’s Spring auction this week.
Another record-breaking work, this collection ‘Et la terre était sans forme’ was from the artist’s crucial artistic period in the mid-50s experienced when he experienced serious upheavals in his personal life, and feelings that had no other outlet were projected onto his canvas. At that point he entered his most crucial period, the years 1954-58, which have been called his “oracle-bone” period.
Given the acclaim that works from that period received from academic critics, most of the larger ones are now in the collections of major museums or other institutions; the appearance of a work such as this on the market is now rare and an extremely valuable find. After its initial showing at the Galerie de France, Paris in 1957, this particular work by Zao Wou-Ki was immediately purchased by a collector, and made another appearance on the market only some 50 years later.
A throng of spectators gazed expectantly as it set a new market record, and today, ten years later, it is back again, giving us an excellent opportunity to view again this significant, museum-grade work. Based on currently available published information, Zao’s two-by-three-meter Aube-aucun soir ni aucum martin, collected by The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, is the largest work dating from Zao’s “oracle-bone” period, possibly due to the limited size of his studio at the time.