Hong Kong’s M+ is presenting the monographic exhibition until May 2026. « Zao Wou-Ki : Master Printmaker ». This exhibition is the first major retrospective in Asia devoted to Zao Wou-Ki’s graphic works. Nearly 180 works from the M+’s extensive collection are on display, mainly prints and rare books from the significant donation to M+ by Mrs. Françoise Marquet-Zao in 2024. The exhibition also includes a selection of paintings, engravings, books, and works on paper on loan from museums and private collections in Europe and Asia.

Co-curated by Dr Wu Mo, Sigg Curator at M+ and by Yann Hendgen, Art Director of Zao Wou-Ki Foundation, Zao Wou-Ki: Master Printmaker offers new perspectives on Zao’s prolific printmaking practice. The exhibition traces Zao Wou-Ki’s printmaking practice from 1949 to 2000 and shows how printmaking was an essential dimension of his art, characterized by continuous experimentation with different techniques and styles.

From his first attempts in 1949 quickly upon arriving in Paris, Zao promptly mastered various printmaking techniques and maintained this practice throughout the rest of his career. The exhibition traces Zao’s aesthetic and technical progression in print mediums such as etching and lithography and how they resonated with the themes and artistic styles of his oil paintings and Indian inks. 

Thanks to a chronological and thematic display, visitors discover his early figurative works, followed by those inspired by Paul Klee and archaic Chinese signs. The exhibition quickly reveals the artist’s enjoyment of experimental engraving techniques and the dialogue he established between his graphic work and his paintings. It also highlights his graphic art commissioned for publications of prominent modern poets in France, illustrating his close ties with French literary circles, including Henri Michaux, André Malraux, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Roger Caillois and René Char.

Finally, the exhibition examines the role of Zao Wou-Ki’s prints, which facilitated the circulation of his works, positioning him as a cross-cultural figure in the postwar art scene in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

This exhibition was made possible thanks to a significant donation from Françoise Marquet-Zao. In addition to a large number of prints dating from 1949 to the more recent 2000s, rare copies of bibliophile books, she has also given to the M+ collections intermediate states of engravings and lithographs, providing insight into these techniques and the artist’s creative process. Presenting a very broad selection from this donation, supplemented by some works donated by Sin-May Roy Zao and loans from museums and private collections in Asia and Europe, the exhibition « Zao Wou-Ki : Master Printmaker » is a vibrant homage to Zao Wou-Ki, who was a guest professor for a semester at the New Asia Art School of Hong Kong in 1958.