Jiushi Art Museum brings together Zao Wou-ki's art with poems composed by renowned authors

A new exhibition at Jiushi Art Museum brought together the artworks of Zao Wou-ki (1920-2013), a Chinese-French artist, and poems composed by renowned authors such as Henri Michaux, Rene Char, Ezra Pound, Andre Malraux and so on.

Going on from June 29 to Oct 13, "Echoes of Verses: The Poetic Palimpsests of Zao Wou-ki" is showing in China, for the first time, more than a dozen sets of print-poetry collections created in collaboration between Zao and various poets. More than 90 prints and 60 translated poems are on exhibition, spanning Zao's career from the late 1940s to the 2000s.

According to Ma Nan, curator of the exhibition, Zao encountered Michaux in 1948, soon after his arrival in Paris. They became life-long friends. "It was through Henri Michaux that Zao Wou-ki entered the French elite intellectuals' circle and embarked his collaboration with many of these artists and poets.

"When researchers study the art history, a lot of the times we are studying their friendship and interactions," she said. "You can make lots of findings about their perspective for the world, and how the important cultural trends were developed."

During the lifetime of Zao, the cultural exchange between the East and West was of great importance both in China and Europe. "In China we saw the introduction of many modern academic achievements, ideas and science discoveries, while in the West, the intellectuals looked for remedies to lots of the social problems emerging after World War II," Ma said.

In the Hangzhou National Academy of Arts where he used to study in the 1940s, there was a tradition among the teachers, Ma explained. They were ready to give out paintings as gifts to students and friends, whether to help someone poor or to celebrate someone's wedding. Later in France, Zao gave lots of paintings to others and received gift paintings from many French artists as well.

Among the first series of artworks Zao created were a group of eight lithographs, and when Michaux saw the artworks he composed eight poems for them. On exhibition is the seventh poem, going with a print that depicts a horse pulling a coffin. "It was a lithograph work Zao created in memory of his deceased baby son," Ma said. "It is a sad story, but just like Michaux wrote in the poem, inside the trees we see in the picture, there is still strong signs of life."

This piece in a way encapsulated Zao's bumpy life, Ma said. "In spite of the misfortunes and losses in his life, Zao always managed to continuously gain strength in art and creation. I think here lies an important message of the exhibition: we can find in the work of Zao the power of truth, beauty and goodness."