"Painting starts where words fail or are inadequate in expressing what one wants to express." -- Gao Xingjian, Harvard University Gazette

In December 2000, Gao Xingjian became the first Chinese-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition to having produced an impressive body of work in several genres -- fiction, plays, and essays -- this prolific artist has also distinguished himself as a painter.

A collection of more than a hundred paintings, Return to Painting was first published in France for a major exhibition of his work in Avignon. The paintings -- India ink on rice paper -- span the artist's career from the 1960s until the present day. This book also includes an important essay by Gao, who is considered an artistic innovator in his native China, both in the visual arts and in literature.