Zao Wou-Ki, Décembre 89–Février 90—Quadriptyque (December 89–February 90—Quadriptych), 1989–90. Oil on canvas. Each canvas: 63 3/4 x 39 3/8 in. (162 x 100 cm); overall: 63 3/4 x 157 1/2 in. (162 x 400 cm). Private collections, Taiwan. © Zao Wou-Ki/ProLitteris, Zurich. Photography by Jean-Louis Losi

WATERVILLE, ME.-  No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki is the first retrospective of the work of Zao Wou-Ki (1920–2013) in the United States, and the first museum exhibition of his work in the U.S. in nearly a half-century. Consisting of oil paintings and works on paper from throughout Zao’s long career, the works in this exhibition provide a dazzling introduction to the contributions of this important Chinese-French artist. Considered one of the first superstar artists of the Chinese diaspora, Zao immigrated to Paris in 1948 and quickly established himself among post-war art circles there. Zao’s art-historical significance lies in his singular adaption of the visual poetry of Chinese art within twentieth-century oil-painting idioms. In his hands, abstraction embraced both European modernism and Chinese metaphysical principles. No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki offers stunning visual evidence of Zao’s pioneering internationalist aesthetic, and marks him as a key figure in twentieth-century transculturalism. 

Zao Wou-Ki, Rouge, bleu, noir (Red, blue, black), 1957. Oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 32 in. (74.9 x 81.2 cm). Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum. Gift of Benjamin and Lilian Hertzberg, 2007.29. © Zao Wou-Ki/ProLitteris, Zurich.

Zao Wou-Ki, 13.01.76, 1976. Oil on canvas, 59 x 63 3/4 in. (150 x 162 cm). Private Collection, Taiwan. © Zao Wou-Ki/ProLitteris, Zurich.