Illustrated:

"In Paris, I was filled with the emotions of an Oriental; nostalgia and a sadness for home surged in me. In reality, although China gave birth to me and raised me, it was Paris that nurtured and educated me."

Zao Wou-ki is one of the few Chinese artists who were directly involved in the Western modern art movement. Not long after his arrival in Paris, post-war Abstract Impressionism flourished, and fate drew him to join this trend. Together with P. Soulage, H. Hartung, A. Manessier, and G. Schneide, Chao's place in this great era was assured.

After 1958, Zao Wou-ki no longer titled his works. For him, creating art was nothing less than the overflow of emotion and the response to creative power, so from that point on, he no longer wrote or drew concrete objects and symbols in emptiness. Although symbols were once important signposts to understanding Zao's paintings, to the viewer, they could also become a kind of limitation. In his works of the late 60's, yellow and brown were the dominant tones, casting out a brilliance like that of a golden bronze with very fine lines, sharp and nerve-like, flowing freely on the face of the picture, their formation shedding the limitations of titles and rules. Borrowing from the trembling movement of worms, with the forceful sweep of the brush, the colorful oils are joined with a fantasy-like effect, and amid the dripping, sprinkling, brushing, splashing, and scraping, an extremely rich and variegated picture surface is created.

In 1972, Zao Wou-ki's second wife Mei-chin passed away due to illness. It was during those hopeless days of despair when, aside from the compassion of friends, the painting studio became Zao's one and only haven of solace. In creating, he engaged in "conversation" with his paintings, pouring out his innermost depression and confusion. "2.9.72", painted after his wife's death, is the result of his re-thinking and re-ordering the chaos in his impressions, feelings, and imaginings of color. The picture still retains traces of the fine lines created by the brush, while the lightness of the picture in space, the blending together of colors, the chasing of figures in space, and the face-to-face clashes and rebirths all give birth to a spirit of freedom and harmony emanating from the work.