"Abstraction is somewhat misleading as a description of Zao's paintings; it would be more accurate to say that their image field hovers between nature and abstraction, once in a while slipping over the edge into the reminiscence of a Chinese landscape schema (12.12.2000, for example, or 19.10.2001). Faithful to a fundamental Chinese aesthetic assumption, he paints an experience of the world in which he himself is implicated; the world he summons up is never entirely separate from him. For this reason his paintings can always be read in two directions, either as evocations of the macrocosmic environments of experience or as articulations of a deeply private emotional topography." Jonathan Hay. Zao Wou-ki, Lately. (2003). Catalogue of the exhibition Zao Wou-Ki: Recent Works at Marlborough Gallery, New York. p.7 As far as Zao Wou-ki is concerned, the ideas expressed via painting are difficult to verbalize. Since 1959, therefore, he had rarely named his works, but instead titled them with the date of their completion or just "untitled". For him, this is not only because words appear colorless and powerless for the eyes, but also because explicit verbal signifiers tend to ascribe excessive associations to real objects. The painting "25.5.2001" features such Jiangnan scenery as hanging willows by the West Lake. Though Zao considered his paintings more poetic than narrative, he, unwittingly perhaps, sneaked his youth memories as well as his most intense nostalgic feelings within into his works. Fairly different from the unrestrained pure abstract paintings in the past, this painting reveals Zao's new perspective on the world during his later years. Quite a few accentuated, blooming and exuding Chinese ink-wash strokes were employed to create the fluid, graceful and vivacious dynamic posture of two dainty trees. The shape of the trees remains ambiguous amidst the intended vagueness, leaving most of the details to viewers' imagination. With yellow, green, orange and pink folding over and into each other, the painting gives forth a jolly rhythm of life. The colors, rather than appearing unpleasantly intense or garish, retain pure and elegant qualities. The scene depicted in the painting serves as a visual display of Zao's tranquil and blissful mind in his twilight years. Moreover, the painting per se signifies his consistent spontaneous self-exploration amidst his creation of artworks other than magnificent large-scale abstract paintings. For him, he needed to look no further than the intricate blend of myriad colors or the sophisticated weave of vigorous strokes, to find the spiritual dimension of freedom. Zao Wou-ki's later works saw a dramatic shift from his early exuberant works. He began to use translucent, airy colors to bring forth gauzier beauty, or occasionally infuse the canvas with a youthful aura using highkey colors. Zao's experiment with ink paintings in the 1970s inspired greater richness in his late-period works. He found in "ink" infinite changes in color as well as immense freedom in space. While others confined themselves to one single tradition, Zao straddled two, placid and poised, liberating his feelings onto the canvas. "Zao Wou-ki's ink paintings, even small ones, are able to evoke the entire universe. Back to oil paintings, he, as if unstoppable, turns to larger and larger canvases. Such inspiration is unique to Zao's late-period works." (See François Cheng, East and West There, (2003), Zao Wou-Ki, catalogue of the exhibition at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, p. 21.) Therefore, in comparison with those created in his youth, amongst Zao's late works are larger paintings or painting series with more youthful and soothing color choices. This manifests his expansion into new realms after the millennium. Zao Wou-ki, a significant icon of both the 20th and 21st centuries, continues to amaze the world with his creativity and poise in painting.