Zao Wou-ki's wife May was barely 41 when she left us forever on March 10, 1972. An outstanding artist herself, she excelled in sculpture and occupied a very important place in the life of the painter. Although May accompanied the artist for a mere 14-year period, from the first encounters in Hong Kong to the sadly departure in Paris, her understanding of Zao Wou-ki's paintings bears testimony to the take-off and fame of his artistic achievements. Decades have passed, but Zao continues to cherish his memories of her at exhibitions and painting collections, which are dedicated to the muse who passed away early. "I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. Her perfect features with a beautifully feminine temperament fascinated me deeply. A native of southern China, May lived in Hong Kong and could not speak much English, save for a few words. Of course, she did not speak French. She worked unenthusiastically as a television actress, starring in a few films, and strained to raise her two children.

It didn't take much for me to convince her to quit her job, put everything down and come with me to Paris. We felt that nothing would matter so long as we were in love with each other." "May's beauty resembled the brilliance of stars. Having grown up in hardship, she also had a maturity that was beyond her years. Her intelligence always retained the innocence of a young girl." (Zao Wou-ki & Françoise Marquet, Self-Portrait of Zao Wou-ki, tr. Liu Li, 1st edition, Artist Publishing Co., Taipei: 1992)

("Je l'ai tout de suite animée. A la perfection des traits du visage se mêlait quelque chose d'infiniment fragile et de douloureux qui me fascinait. Originaire du sud de la Chine, May n'avait jamais quitté Hongkong. Elle ne parlait ni l'anglais - sauf quelques mots - ni, bien sûr, le français. Elle exerçait sans grand enthousiasme son métier d'actrice de cinéma, et élevait avec beaucoup de difficulté ses deux enfants. Je n'ai pas eu beaucoup de mal à la convaincre d'abandonner ce travail et de tout quitter pour me suivre. Nous pensions qu'il suffisait de nous aimer!" "...May était d'une grande beauté. Elle avait le brilliant de l'actrice de cinéma et la gravité de la femme qui connu, malgré son jeune âge, de multiples échecs et tourments. Très intelligente, elle avait aussi convervé la fraîcheur de l'adolescence.")

Zao Wou-ki's autobiography reminisces the early days when the couple first met. The relationship later had a significant influence on his art. Once thought to be missing and have given up painting by many of his friends, Zao returned from Hong Kong with a new love and a renewed effort in his work, beginning a new stage of sentimental and abstract painting.

Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris holds a few of Zao's oil paintings and watercolor paintings, the most important of which is "10.9.1972, En mémoire de May, 14.11.30-10.3.72", an enormous oil painting completed after Zao's painful loss. His memory of his wife is set in a brown stretch of land obscured by darkness where a light flickering at a distance still brings a ray of hope. After the loss of his wife, he fled from Paris and returned to China, his native land, and met his mother, who had been separated from him for 24 years. Sometimes he had no choice but to wander in different places. However, traveling is also the way artists charge their energy, and at that time he must leave to find peace once again. The appearance of May opened up new prospects for the artist's paintings. Hence her passing away also implies the end of a Zao Wou-ki style.

According to many art critics, the next stage in Zao's art began in 1973, the year of May's death, which can be considered as the demarcation of his painting stage. Chinese art historian Xin Xiaozhou points out that Zao's painting period began in the 1960s and continued till the early 1970s. Works of this period often used black, brown and other cool color tones and powerful strokes which gave the pictures a kinetic appearance. An emotional involvement that is difficult to control individually by the artist can be found in the works. Zao's art after the 1970s mostly consists of bright and colorful oil paintings that emphasize the search for space and light. A new journey in art is implied by the landscape in the paintings (Xing Xiaozhou, "Parcours artistique de Zao Wou-ki", Zao Wou-ki 60 ans de peintures, Shanghai Museum: 1998).

May suffered from illness for ten years. For the artist, the years seemed to be worries in a dreamland, which ended abruptly with May's death in 1972. In his autobiography, Zao mentioned that May's depression gave him immense pressure, and that he usually dealt with it through socializing and drinking, hence doctorsand friends would jokingly call him "Zao Whisky " . Despite his various anxieties and mental sufferings, he felt happiness, which contradicted the situation, at the same time. The couple once held hands as they traveled cheerfully, immersing themselves in a carefree love.

The oil painting "11.1.72" was completed two months before May's death, when Zao's art mainly centered on black ink and smaller pieces. He said he did not put down his brush even for once during May's illness. His studio became a quiet harbor where he found a corner in the vast emptiness to anchor his boat and obtained peace and quiet from the extensive shades of color. The piece "11.1.72" holds the secret codes and sincere feelings of the artist, and its essence transpires a compact and mystical poetic implication. Its theme is centralized at the lower edge of the painting where the change in color is subtle and infinite. The barren, cold and boundless horizon painted in faint purple reveals a gentle, soft and classical elegance; the big strokes resemble billowing rivers and seas, whereas the crisscrossing thin, broken lines spill out the penetrating trills of the painting. The couple's reluctance to part is merged with nature, the mountains and the rivers. Although the painting is abstract in form, the concept of Oriental art is integrated all the more after the painter picked up the Chinese paintbrush once again.

Taiwanese painter and writer Chu Ko once commented on the distinctive colors of Zao Wou-ki: "Each of his works has a principal shade and the principal shade of each piece is never a primary color. Instead, similar colors are set off by contrast in different arrangements. Though the works are oil paintings, they are smeared with rich and interesting colors. Oil paints are tempered to form the neutral tone of watercolors – a feat which western artists find difficult to achieve. The implication of the colors reflects the three popular notions of Oriental watercolor philosophy; nevertheless,the rich tones cannot be attained by real watercolors". (Chu Ko, 'Truth of Nature', Album of Zao Wou-ki, edited by Yuan Dexing, catalogue of Prinkmaker Gallery exhibition, Yuancheng Publishing Co., Taipei, 1980)

Zao returned to Chinese brush painting once again in 1971. The Chinoiserie form of painting he tried to avoid in the past, considering it too simple, gradually gave him the power of stability. The work "11.1.72" belongs to the later part of the period between the 1960s and the early 1970s. Its lines continue to pulsate, although not as rapidly and repressed as before. After brushing up on the watercolors of China, the white spaces gradually opened up as though announcing the departure of May in advance. A new stage is slowly unfolded after the mid-1970s.