Beijing born Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013) is an artist whose work is a quest to “conquer the surface” and delve deep into the human psyche. Starting very young, at the age of 10 Wou-Ki loved drawing and had the support of his parents that pushed him to study his passions in an academic setting. After being accepted to study, he would break free from the curriculum and begin experimenting with art in his own way, beginning with oil painting. He is inspired by the works of artists such as Picasso and Matisse, and it was after his solo exhibition in 1947 that he would move to Paris in pursuit of further academic study. In Paris he would meet many well known artists that would influence the way he saw and made his own work. Zao Wou-Ki would begin to develop his personal style after being shown the works of Paul Klee, he was intrigued by the abandonment of form and was more so interested in the symbolic, from here he would move away from still life and take a more abstract approach. In the late 50’s he would move to New York City to stay with his brother. He said that he loved the American style of painting, which to him was free of restriction and more spontaneous.