Zao Wou-Ki; Wade-Giles: Chao Wu-chi; 13 February 1920 - 9 April 2013) was a Chinese-French painter. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Zao was born in Beijing with family roots in Dantu, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. In his childhood he was brought back to his hometown Dantu where he studied calligraphy. From 1935 to 1941, he studied painting at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. In 1948, he went with his wife Lan-lan, a composer, to Paris to live on the same block in Montparnasse where the classes of Émile Othon Friesz took place. His earliest exhibitions in France were met with praise from Joan Miró and Picasso.
Zao and his wife pursued their own careers, their son having stayed in China with his Zao's parents. In the mid-1950s, they were divorced. In 1957, Zao decided to visit the United States where his younger brother Chao Wu-Wai was living in Montclair, New Jersey, close to the art scene of New York City. He wanted to learn more about "pop art". While in the US, he painted seven canvases at his brother’s house. There are relatively few items dating from that year (1957). Years later, the largest canvas was given by his brother, Chao Wu-Wai, to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
He left the U.S. after a six-week stay, traveling to Tokyo and then to Hong Kong, where he met his second wife Chan May-Kan (陳美琴, May Zao), a film actress who had two children from her first marriage. Under the influence of Zao, she became a successful sculptor. In 19 72, she committed suicide at age 41 due to mental illness.
Zao's works, influenced by Paul Klee, are orientated to abstraction. He names them with the date in which he finishes them, and in them, masses of colours appear to materialise a creating world, like a big bang, where light structures the canvas. He worked formats in triptychs and diptychs. While his work was stylistically similar to the Abstract Expressionists whom he met while travelling in New York, he was influenced by Impressionism. Zao Wou-ki stated that he had been influenced by the works of Matisse, Picasso and Cezanne.
His meetings with Henri Michaux pushed him to review his Indian ink techniques, always based in Chinese traditional drawings. Zao was a member of the Académie des beaux-arts, and was considered to have been one of the most successful Chinese painters during his lifetime.
His auction record of RMB 89,680,000 (US$14,718,771) was set at Sotheby's, Beijing, on 1 December 2013.
Former French President Jacques Chirac was offered a painting by Zao Wu Ki by his ministers during their last meeting. By the end of his life Zao had stopped producing new paintings due to health problems. He died on 9 April 2013 at his home in Switzerland.
趙無極（Zao Wou-Ki，1921年2月13日－2013年4月9日） ，生於中華民國北京，祖籍鎮江丹徒大港，法籍華裔畫家。
趙無極來自一個書香世家，世代定居鎮江丹徒大港（今鎮江丹徒區）。家族可追溯自宋朝皇族趙子禠，其為宋太祖六世孫，建炎三年（公元1129年）遷居鎮江丹徒大港。父親趙漢生是銀行家[2][3][4]。
1921年2月，趙無極於北京出生，為 7 個小孩中的長子。在鎮江丹徒大港趙氏家族有不少字畫收藏，趙無極對米芾的一幅真跡最感興趣，趙10歲時（約1931年），族中的一位叔叔，從巴黎帶回很多明信片，有許多西方的油畫，趙尤愛其中米勒的《天使》[3]，他從此便喜歡繪畫，也獲得父親與長輩的認同[5]。1935年趙無極通過考試進入國立杭州藝術專科學校（簡稱杭州藝專）就讀，學習繪畫，師從吳大羽、林風眠[6][7]，同年結識了同為杭州藝專學習音樂的謝景蘭[8][9]，吳冠中、朱德群為趙的學長。
1937年爆發抗日戰爭，為避免戰禍，杭州藝專師生不斷往西遷移，由浙江杭州，輾轉移設至諸暨、江西貴溪、湖南沅陵、貴州貴陽、雲南昆明、四川松林岡，1942年遷設於重慶[10]。1941年趙無極畢業，經林風眠推薦留校擔任助教，同年與謝景蘭在香港結婚，並在重慶舉辦了第一次個人作品展覽[7][8][11]。趙無極自承，在學期間深受塞尚、馬蒂斯、畢加索的作品影響，1942年，趙在重慶中蘇文化協會舉辦了一個聯展，展出包括林風眠、吳大羽、關良、丁衍鏞以及他個人的作品，此時他已立志擺脫傳統國畫對技巧的崇拜和模仿，同年獨子趙嘉陵出生[7][9][11]。1945年抗戰勝利，國立藝術專科學校（1938年由杭州藝專、北平藝專合併而成）遷回杭州原址，校名恢復為國立杭州藝術專科學校，1946年趙無極回校任教，翌年（1947年），趙在上海大新百貨公司舉辦了個人畫展。
縱然已辦過個人展覽，27歲的趙無極，認為自己太年青，仍處於學習階段，在其父母資助下，1948年2月，趙偕妻子謝景籣乘船遠赴法國巴黎深造，兒子趙嘉陵交由父母照料，選擇巴黎是因為他喜歡印象派畫風。2月28日趙氏夫婦於馬賽港入境法國，4月1日抵達巴黎，當天下午夫婦倆到盧浮宮博物館參觀畫作，晚上聆聽一場音樂會[5][7][9]。夫婦倆於藝術家聚集的蒙帕納斯區，選擇了穆林-瓦特路上的一家旅館住了下來，與著名雕塑家阿爾伯托·賈科梅蒂為鄰。
1949年，在法國巴黎約克勒茲畫廊舉辦留法後首之個展。在巴黎，妻子和他離婚，嫁給一位法國雕塑家。趙無極開始到世界各地遊歷，在香港和電影演員陳美琴結婚，回到巴黎繼續創作，將西方的抽象繪畫方法和中國畫寫意畫法的空靈意象融合到一起，將油畫畫成寫意畫的效果，用稀薄的油彩潑墨，乾澀的筆法皴染。趙無極曾參加法國五月沙龍、意大利威尼斯雙年展等展覽，開始擁有名氣。他的作品在100多個國家舉辦展覽引起轟動。
1972年陳美琴因精神病發，自殺身亡，趙無極十分悲傷，有接近一年沒有畫畫，後來創作了一幅九米巨畫《紀念美琴》紀念亡妻，保存在蓬皮杜藝術中心。翌年，趙無極認識弗朗索瓦·馬爾凱，兩人於1977年結婚，這是他的第三段婚姻。
1979年，應貝聿銘的邀請，為他設計的北京香山飯店做壁畫，沒有受到理解，一位經理竟然說：「這樣的畫，我也能畫！」[12]但當1999年在北京舉辦《趙無極60年回顧展》時，轟動了整個中國藝術界，併到上海巡展。時任法國總統的希拉克專門為畫展撰寫前言，提到：「趙無極洞徹我們兩大民族的感性，使二者融於一身，既屬中華，又屬法蘭西。他的藝術，吸取了我們兩國文化的精粹。」江澤民為畫展題詞「氤氳化醇，融合創新」。
他曾獲法國榮譽軍團司令級勳章。2002年，趙無極被選為法蘭西藝術院院士，並授予榮譽勳章，在他接納為院士的儀式上，程抱一和朱德群都參加並熱烈祝賀。
趙無極曾說：「雖然我入了法國籍，但我的創作源泉在中國，本身骨子裏的東西，還是中國人的，這應該是最重要的。」
2011年之後偕妻子定居瑞士。2013年4月9日下午因病醫治無效在瑞士沃州逝世，享年92歲。