L'homme Des Deux Rives : Zao Wou-Ki Collectionneur

Exhibition at the Musée de l'Hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, 17 June - 30 December 2016 ;
Musée Cernuschi, Paris, 24 June - 23 October 2016

From the moment he arrived in Paris in 1948, Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013) surrounded himself with works of art that reflected his tastes, encounters and friendships. From ancient Chinese bronzes to drawings by the great masters Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst, from the works of artists who settled in Paris after the war to those of the New York School painters to whom he was close, this exceptional collection illustrates the intellectual and friendly companionship between Zao Wou-Ki and those who were part of his artistic family for almost fifty years.

This exhibition catalogue presents the donations made by his wife to the Musée de l'Hospice Saint-Roch in Issoudun and to the Musée Cernuschi in Paris, thus providing an opportunity to enter the artist's intimacy and to show for the first time in their entirety the works exchanged with his friends or acquired by Zao Wou-Ki alongside major works by the artist.