Asian artists are hardly new to the global stage—but something feels different in Paris. Over the past week, as Art Basel returned for its fourth edition in the City of Light, there was a palpable energy in the air. From major prizes to quiet moments in galleries, signs of a more visible and confident Asian presence were everywhere.
Among them (but not limited to): Cai Guo-Qiang marked the Centre Pompidou’s closure for a five-year renovation with a monumental fireworks painting on its facade and China-born artist Xie Lei, who pursued his practice-based PhD in Visual arts at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 2012 to 2016, was announced as the winner of the Marcel Duchamp Prize. Amid a compelling presentation of emerging contemporary voices, the gallery borrowed a painting by Zao Wou-Ki, one of the pioneering figures who shaped art history in both China and France. The work served as a bridge between generations and a quiet nod to the past.
Zao was far from alone. For more than a century, Paris has drawn artists from across Asia who helped reshape modern and contemporary art. Sanyu, Lê Phổ, Pan Yuliang, Tsuguharu Foujita, Whanki Kim, and later Yan Pei-Ming, Ma Desheng, and many more, each wove their cultural hybridity into the fabric of the city’s art history.