Opening in December 2025, the exhibition features more than 200 works and offers a cross-disciplinary showcase of Zao’s printmaking practice

M+, Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK) in Hong Kong, is pleased to announce its fourth Special Exhibition to be opened in 2025—Zao Wou-Ki: Graphic Works (working title). The exhibition is Asia’s first major retrospective of the graphic works of Chinese French master Zao Wou-Ki (1920–2013), one of the greatest abstract artists of the mid- and late twentieth-century.

Co-curated by M+ and the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation, the exhibition offers new perspectives on Zao’s longstanding printmaking practice from 1949 to 2000. It showcases more than 200 works from the significant collection held at M+, including prints, illustrated books, paintings, works on paper, and documentary materials, thanks to a major recent donation to M+ by Zao’s wife, Madame Françoise Marquet-Zao, Chief Curator and the president of the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation. The exhibition also comprises a selection of donated works from Zao’s daughter Sin-May Roy Zao to M+, as well as paintings and works on paper loaned from other museums and private collections. The exhibition will open in M+’s Main Hall Gallery on Saturday, 13 December 2025 and will be on view until April 2026.

Zao Wou-Ki: Graphic Works (working title) shows the artist’s life, his prints, and his mastery of abstraction. It sheds new light on Zao’s printmaking practice, introducing the unique aesthetics, techniques, and styles of this medium while investigating the connections between oil painting and printmaking as equally significant aspects of his oeuvre. Organised both chronologically and thematically, the exhibition explores Zao’s printmaking as a distinct medium that catalysed his experiments in abstraction. It considers the role of prints as a visual and conceptual vehicle that facilitated the circulation of Zao’s works, strengthening his relationships within the art world, and positioning him as an eminent cross-cultural figure in the post-war art landscapes of Europe, Asia, and the United States. The exhibition will feature significant works of Zao Wou-Ki including Lecture by Henri Michaux (1950), Piazza Siena (1951), and In Honour of the Picture and of Poetry (1976).

Beginning with his first attempts in 1949 upon arriving in Paris, Zao quickly mastered various printmaking techniques and incorporated them into his work, a practice he maintained throughout the rest of his career. He once expressed his enthusiasm for lithography and printmaking, saying, ‘The idea of throwing colour on a large white porous stone, like on China paper, pleased me.’ The show outlines his developments in printmaking and how it resonated with the themes and artistic styles of his oil paintings. The exhibition traces Zao’s aesthetic, and technical progression in print mediums, such as etching and lithography, highlighting his graphic art commissioned for the poems of prominent modern poets in France and illustrating his relationship with French literary circles.

Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, emphasising the significance of the exhibition, says, ‘Zao Wou-Ki’s graphic art exemplifies his innovative spirit and cross-cultural impact. The exhibition offers new insights into his artistic prowess and highlights his ability to bridge Chinese aesthetic heritage with European artistic mediums. We appreciate the tremendous support from Madame Françoise Marquet-Zao, in particular her generous donations to M+ over the years, which has made this large-scale survey of Zao possible and allowed M+ to house the largest and most comprehensive catalogue of Zao’s prints outside of France.’

Françoise Marquet-Zao, Chief Curator and the president of Zao Wou-Ki Foundation, says, ‘This exhibition is a tribute to my husband Zao Wou-Ki’s lifelong dedication to art. His graphic works were a constant in his career, reflecting his dedication to new possibilities with lines, colours, compositions, and the aesthetics of traditional Chinese painting. It is an honour to see his works appreciated in such a significant retrospective at a global museum. I believe this exhibition will inspire audiences to explore his extraordinary life, career, and printmaking.’

Doryun Chong, Artistic Director and Chief Curator, M+, contextualising Zao’s graphic art, says, ‘Zao Wou-Ki’s graphic works are integral to his studies throughout his career, reflecting his profound engagement with the medium of print and its possibilities. His graphic works reveal a different facet of his creativity—one that is highly experimental and reflective of his abstract journey through various artistic movements and cultural influences. This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore the lesser-known aspects of his oeuvre and to understand his art as a powerful means of communication that transcends borders and cultures.’

Dr Wu Mo, Sigg Curator, M+, and Yann Hendgen, Art Director of Zao Wou-Ki Foundation, say, ‘Our goal is to present Zao Wou-Ki’s graphic works in a way that highlights their dialogue with his broader oeuvre. Famous for his dramatic studies of colour and light, Zao explores his fascination with these elements through printmaking. Compared to his oil paintings, his prints reveal the calligraphic traces and layers of colour more vividly, showing his artistic process. The colour, composition, energy, and translucency of these works affirm their distinct place in his career. This collaboration has enabled us to showcase a comprehensive collection of Zao’s prints and illustrated books in an insightful exhibition that honours his legacy.’

The exhibition monograph will be a comprehensive publication on the artist’s diverse body of prints. Published in English and Traditional Chinese, the publication will foreground M+’s significant collection of Zao’s graphic works through essays and other texts.

Exhibition details and ticketing arrangements will be announced closer to the exhibition opening.

About Zao Wou-Ki

Zao Wou-Ki (1920–2013) was one of the greatest abstract artists of the mid- and late twentieth-century. Immersed in Chinese painting and calligraphy in his youth, Zao graduated from the National College of Art in Hangzhou, where he studied under Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu, and other progressive artists. This cohort had studied in Europe in the 1920s and brought back stylistic inspirations and new pedagogical methods. After graduation, Zao taught at his alma mater and participated in exhibitions in Shanghai and Chongqing alongside other avant-garde artists, including Lin, Wu, Ding Yanyong, Guan Liang, and Li Zhongsheng.

In 1948, Zao moved to Paris, where he would live for most of his life. He achieved an extraordinary career and developed a signature style of lyrical abstraction, a dynamic visual language that combines Chinese influences and oil painting with the layered techniques of printmaking. In the early 1970s, a trip to China prompted him to revisit the traditional medium of ink for the first time since his departure, which later became an important parallel to his oil paintings. He spent a substantial amount of time in China to realise various projects, including two large-scale paintings commissioned by I. M. Pei for Fragrant Hill Hotel (1982) in Beijing. Zao also taught at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the China Academy of Art), often accompanied by his wife, Chief Curator Françoise Marquet, whom he married in 1977.

Zao’s work is widely collected by museums in Europe, North America, and Asia. He became French citizen in 1964 thanks to André Malraux, French Minister for Cultural Affairs. In 1984, he was made an Officier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’honneur and in 2006, a Grand officier. In 1994, he received the Praemium Imperiale Award for Painting from the Japanese Emperor. He was elected to the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2002. He died in Switzerland in 2013.

About M+

M+ is Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture. Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK), it is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The landmark M+ building on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbourfront was designed by the world-renowned architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with TFP Farrells and Arup. It spans a total floor area of 65,000 square metres, featuring thirty-three galleries alongside a Learning Hub, Moving Image Centre, Research Centre, and Roof Garden, among other event and programming spaces. The M+ Facade is one of the largest LED screens in the world, showcasing commissioned artworks on the Hong Kong skyline every evening. The museum stewards a multidisciplinary permanent collection that includes objects from regions across Asia and beyond. A highlight is the M+ Sigg Collection, one of the world’s most extensive collections of Chinese contemporary art. Today, M+ is a nexus for researching and presenting contemporary visual culture, inspiring thought and curiosity.

About the West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK)

WestK is one of the largest and most ambitious cultural hubs in the world and Hong Kong’s new cultural tourism landmark, spanning forty hectares alongside Victoria Harbour. WestK comprises a mix of landmark arts and cultural facilities, including world-class museums M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum, intricately designed performing arts venues the Xiqu Centre and Freespace, the eleven-hectare Art Park with a waterfront promenade, and the upcoming WestK Performing Arts Centre.

Hosting over 1,000 exhibitions, performances, programmes, and events each year, WestK provides a vital platform for both emerging and established artists. WestK welcomes more than ten million visitors each year, evolving as the international cultural brand of Hong Kong and strengthening the city’s strategic role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.