Zao made this immense memorial after the death of his second wife, Chan May-Kan, in 1972. The canvas extends more than five meters, carrying dark forms across an exposed yellow field. Its scale turns grief into a space the viewer must physically traverse.
He chose not to sell the work and donated it to the French state in 1973. The painting is personal, but it avoids portraiture and anecdote. Loss appears as imbalance: weight presses from above, black forms break apart, and luminous color becomes almost unbearable in its openness.
