Zao Wou-ki, one of the most internationally-acclaimed Chinese artists of the 20th century, once said that he wanted to paint things that "can't be seen" — the qi (energy) of life, wind, motion, the "forms of life", and the presentation and merging of colors.

His work from his Hurricane period (approximately 1959-1972), shows his exploration of this theme with an even deeper fusion of the highly-expressive, minimalist style of Chinese art with the abstract tendency of Western modernism, a style he was exposed to after moving to Europe in the late 1940s.

An example from this period, titled 17.3.63, will lead an upcoming auction in Hong Kong on Sept 26, by Christie's. The work in oil is dominated by expanses of explosive red.

The evening sale of dozens of 20th and 21st-century art will also see the auction of Pablo Picasso's Buste de femme,the female figure in which was inspired by the Spanish artist's well-known muse, Dora Maar.