Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • Contact Us
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • AMMpro

Zao Wou-Ki Dies at 93

April 9, 2013 by Marion Maneker

Zao Wou-KiThe French press is reporting that Zao Wou-Ki, a giant among Chinese modern artists who has lived in France for most of his life, has died. Zao’s work has been the bedrock of the Chinese art market in Hong Kong and the West for several years with prices rising and a blue-chip value unlike any other Chinese painter working in the abstract idiom:

Chinese-French abstract painter Zao Wou-Ki, a significant figure in 20th-century Chinese art, died Tuesday at his home in Switzerland aged 93, a lawyer for his wife told AFP.

A lawyer for Zao’s son, who was in a legal battle with his father’s wife to obtain power-of-attorney over the artist, confirmed the death and said Zao, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, had been hospitalised twice since the end of March.

Update: Zao’s Hong Kong dealer adds this off-the-wall comment in the New York Times’s belated obituary:

“Zao’s paintings are extremely rare,” said Mr. de Sarthe, whose gallery will be showing one Zao work at the first Art Basel Hong Kong next month. “It’s almost easier to find a Picasso.”

Franco-Chinese painter Zao Wou-Ki dies aged 93: lawyers (AFP)

Zao Wou-Ki, Seen as Modern Art Master, Dies at 92 (NYTimes)

Zao Wou-ki

More from Art Market Monitor

  • The Battle for Zhao Wou-ki’s EstateThe Battle for Zhao Wou-ki’s Estate
  • Sotheby’s Unveils Massive $45m Zao Wou-ki for Hong KongSotheby’s Unveils Massive $45m Zao Wou-ki for Hong Kong
  • Zao Wou-ki’s 29.09.64 Sets Record in Hong Kong with $19.7m SaleZao Wou-ki’s 29.09.64 Sets Record in Hong Kong with $19.7m Sale
  • Legitimizing Late de KooningLegitimizing Late de Kooning
  • Françoise Gilot Still Painting at 95Françoise Gilot Still Painting at 95
  • The Story of ZaoThe Story of Zao
  • Print
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Artists

Advertise on Art Market Monitor with Nectar Ads

Top Posts

  • Why I Am Leaving Gagosian
  • The New York Times Still Doesn't Get Art & Money Laundering
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Bonhams Brings Second Generation of Modern Vietnamese Art in Hong Kong
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Newsletter
  • Sotheby's Brings $30m Pollock to New York
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • How Park West Sold $93m in Peter Max Paintings


  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • Art Loans
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor