Collection: Walasse Ting

Walasse Ting (1929–2010) was a Chinese-born painter and poet who worked across Paris, New York and Amsterdam, developing a practice that moved fluidly between Abstract Expressionism, CoBrA and Pop without settling permanently in any of them. Arriving in Paris in 1953, he formed lasting friendships with Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel and Asger Jorn, and his work from this period shares CoBrA’s commitment to spontaneous mark-making and vivid colour. In New York from the late 1950s he absorbed the energy of Abstract Expressionism while maintaining a lyrical figuration centred on women, cats, flowers and birds rendered in acrylic on rice paper. His 1964 book 1¢ Life, featuring his own poetry alongside contributions from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg, remains his most cited work. NSU Art Museum’s survey Walasse Ting: Parrot Jungle (2023–2024) was the first American monographic museum exhibition to situate him beyond that single publication.