High Life

40 品 法 国五月艺术节自1993年创办以来，至今已举办了25届，并发展成为亚洲 规模最大的文化盛事之一。其以「无所不包、无处不在、无众不欢」为主 旨，在港澳地区举办逾120场文化活动，每年吸引逾一百万人参与。由季丰轩画 廊举办的画展《绿磨坊街》，是2018法国五月艺术节的协同项目，也是本年度 的重点画展之一，展出近20幅出自中法泰斗赵无极（1920至2013年）及其亲 朋好友手笔的作品。 赵无极堪称法籍华裔画家第一人，其在中法文化交流史上的地位无可比拟。 他是二战后最具影响力的画家之一，通过糅合西方现代抽象主义与中国传统美术 情感，创造出独步天下的画风。在其云云艺术成就中，赵无极仅凭这一项便足以 留芳万古。近年来，赵无极的大型油画经常是拍卖市场的焦点。完成于1964年 的油彩布本《29.09.64》，在佳士得香港2017秋季拍卖上以1.53亿港元成交， 而完成于1956年的油彩布本《大地无形》，随后在保利香港2018春季拍卖上以 1.55亿港元易手。 赵无极系出江南名门望族，世代均为书香门第，其族谱可追溯至宋太祖赵匡 胤六世孙赵子禠。靖康之难（1125至1127年）后，金国攻占北宋淮河以北全 部国土。为躲避战乱，赵子禠率众南渡金陵（今南京），后迁京口（今镇江）， 最后定居大港（今江苏省镇江市丹徒区大港镇）。在家庭教育的熏陶下，赵无极 从小热爱绘画，也精于文学和书法。少年时，他十分崇拜亨利·马蒂斯及巴勃 罗·毕加索，对印象主义亦甚感兴趣。赵无极的叔父在欧洲公干时，从巴黎带回 了不少明信片、报纸和杂志，让侄儿首次接触法国印象主义大家保罗·塞尚与奥 古斯特·雷诺阿等人的画作。 E stablished in 1993, Le French May is one of the largest cultural events in Asia and is currently celebrating its 25th edition. With an objective to touch everything, be everywhere and for everyone, Le French May comprises more than 120 programs in Hong Kong and Macau, attracting over one million visitors per year. Rue du Moulin-Vert , an associated program hosted by eminent art gallery Kwai Fung Hin, is one of the marquee exhibitions of Le French May 2018, showcasing important works by Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013) and his inner circle of friends. The foremost Franco-Chinese artist to date and one of the most influential painters in the postwar era, Zao is renowned and revered for his idiosyncratic reconciliation of Chinese and Western traditions, whereby modern Western abstraction merges with ancient Chinese aesthetics. If nothing else, this extraordinary feat alone warrants his place in the pantheon of art. In recent years, Zao’s pièces de résistance are perennially some of the most sought-after on the auctionmarket. His oil on canvas 29.09.64 – 1964 fetched HK$153 million at Christie’s Autumn Auctions 2017, whereas Et la terre était sans forme – 1956 , another oil on canvas, was sold for HK$155 million at Poly Spring Auctions 2018. Zao was born into a time-honored scholar-officials family, descending from a prince of the imperial family of the Song Dynasty. Subsequent to the Jingkang Incident of 1125 to 1127, Song ceded all territories north of the Huai to Jin and the prince relocated to the Jiangnan region. Owing to family education, Zao was well-versed in literature and calligraphy, in addition to his lifelong passion for painting. In his youth, Zao idolized Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso and was enchanted by impressionism. His uncle would bring him postcards, newspapers and magazines from Paris, hence his first encounters with Paul Cézanne and Auguste Renoir.