C.C. WANG
Chi-Chien Wang (1907 – July 3, 2003) better known as C.C. Wang was both a pre-eminent collector and practitioner of the Chinese ink painting tradition. Born in Suzhou, China in 1907, he initially studied law before devoting himself to art entirely. In 1949 he emigrated to the United States with his wife and two daughters, leaving his son and oldest daughter behind.
Examples of his work are often considered to be some of, if not the last authentic examples of the literati style. The style itself was not permitted in China post Communist revolution, so it was left to expatriate artists such as Wang, who resided in New York, to continue its voice. Ultimately, C.C. Wang became the last of an increasing small group of artists practicing overseas. With no subsequent generations to pass on to, the style itself died out with him when he passed away in 2003.
C.C. Wang’s collection of traditional ink paintings is purported to be the finest in the world, including many works that now form part of a greater collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Wang consistently fed his own practice and creative developments through the study of older Chinese masters. It is here that we find him at his apex, forging new and brilliant ideas at the very end of an ancient and distinguished tradition of Chinese art.
