C. C. Wang, no title (Abstract Work with Blue and Green), 1998,
ink and color on paper, 33 ¾ x 15 ⅝ inches (85.7 × 39.7 cm).
Collection of Pao Yung Chao. Image copyright the Estate of C.C. Wang.
Photo: Stan Narten.

C. C. Wang: Lines of Abstraction
February 2-April 29, 2023
Hunter College
Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Gallery
132 East 68th Street
New York, NY

Born to a family of scholar-officials at the twilight of the Qing dynasty, C. C. Wang (Wang Chi-ch’ien 王己千, 1907–2003) mastered the traditional ink and brush techniques in Republican Shanghai and immigrated to New York City in 1949. There he sought to preserve the tradition of classical Chinese painting through engagement with new ideas, materials, and forms. Drawing inspiration from past masters in the history of Chinese painting, as well as New York’s artistic climate in the wake of World War II, Wang advanced breakthrough transformations in ink painting.

C. C. Wang is best known as a preeminent twentieth-century connoisseur and collector of pre-modern Chinese art, a reputation that often overshadows his own art. Held twenty years after the artist’s death, C. C. Wang: Lines of Abstraction recenters Wang’s extraordinary career on his own artistic practice to reveal an original quest for tradition and innovation in the global twentieth century. Spanning seven decades, the exhibition focuses on the artist’s distinctive synthesis of Chinese ink painting and American postwar abstraction.

Curated by Wen-shing Chou and Daniel M. Greenberg with Hans Hofmann Graduate Curatorial Fellow Margaret Liu Clinton.

The Art Students League's Lunchtime Lecture
Dr. Wen-Shing Chou: C.C. Wang’s Art of Kinesthetic Knowing
Thursday, February 9, 12-1pm
Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery
215 W 57 Street, 2nd Floor
Free and open to the public-includes an audience Q&A!

Read more, click here. To register for Thursday's talk, click here.