Chi-Chien Wang (; 1907 – July 3, 2003), better known as C. C. Wang, was a Chinese-born artist and art collector based in New York City.
'' The New York Times''.

Life

Wang was born in

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1907. He studied law in Shanghai, and then in 1936 decided to devote himself to art. In 1949, to escape the exigencies of the Chinese Communist Revolution, he emigrated to the United States with his wife and two youngest daughters, leaving his son and oldest daughter behind.''The New York Times''. June 7, 2010.
/ref>

Collection

His collection of ancient Chinese paintings is consistently listed as one of the greatest such collections in the world. In 1998, 25 paintings from his collection were given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of the most important works in this group was the hanging scroll ''Riverbank'' by 10th century master Dong Yuan, whose authenticity, however, was controversially challenged by the art historian James Cahill.

Art

Examples of his own paintings are the last authentic examples of "literati art" from China. Several expatriates practiced the style after the Chinese Communist Revolution, but he was the last to die of those who practiced it, and the style was not permitted immediately after the revolution. Subsequent generations had no one to pass the style onto, and so it died out with the few expatriates practicing abroad, like Wang.

Death

Wang died July 3, 2003, in New York City.

References and further reading

* *On C. C. Wang's purchase of the Contag collection, see Cahill's note at: http://jamescahill.info/the-writings-of-james-cahill/responses-a-reminiscences/154-32what-became-of-the-contag-collection *Notes made by James Cahill on forgeries/copies of works in various private (including C. C. Wang's) and museum collections: http://jamescahill.info/File/LS_lecture_notes/Addendum%20B.pdf *A detailed biography of C. C. Wang can be found at: http://www.echinaart.com/Advisor/adv_ccwang_gallery.htm

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, C. C. American art collectors 1907 births 2003 deaths Artists from Suzhou Chinese emigrants to the United States