From Shanghai to Ohio: Woo Chong Yung (1898–1989)  

Woo Chong Yung (Wu Zhongxiong, 1898–1989), also known as C. Y. Woo, was a highly accomplished painter, calligrapher, and poet from Shanghai. Between 1920 and 1950, Woo was at the center of China’s cultural world, feted in art circles in both Shanghai and Beijing. His paintings were shown in prestigious exhibitions in China, Japan, and Europe. Faced with political persecution in the 1960s, Woo migrated to Worthington, Ohio before the onset of the Cultural Revolution. Once in the United States, he became an active presence in Columbus, teaching Chinese painting and martial arts, exhibiting and lecturing at local colleges and universities, and contributing his talents to local arts councils and ethnic festivals in central Ohio. This exhibition, curated by Dr. Hou-mei Sung, Curator of East Asian Art at the Cincinnati Art Museum, features some of Woo’s most important, never-before exhibited, and recently conserved paintings and personal artifacts.