INTRODUCTION

Hou-mei Sung

The initial idea of creating the exhibition From Shanghai to Ohio was conceived in the summer of 2014, when Wu Tien-hsing 吳天行 (1923–2018), a geotechnical engineering professor at The Ohio State University, donated 136 paintings by his late father, Woo Chong Yung (Wu Zhongxiong) 吳仲熊 (1898–1989), to the Cincinnati Art Museum. These paintings—combined with the much larger collection of Woo’s paintings, calligraphies, seals, photographs, and sword, which were previously donated to The Frank Museum of Art at Otterbein University—not only provide a glimpse into his broader personal artistic development and career, but also create a context for the larger historical and cultural climate of twentieth-century China.

Produced in conjunction with the exhibition, this catalogue features approximately one hundred paintings and objects drawn from the collections of both the Cincinnati Art Museum and The Frank Museum of Art. Almost all these works are dated and inscribed with Woo’s poems and comments revealing the long and inspirational path he traveled in the development of his artistic style. Woo’s migration to the United States not only led him to develop a unique sensitivity and appreciation for the art and culture of his homeland but also helped provide a completely new cultural identity, reshaping both his technical and spiritual artistic perspectives. Memories from the past, such as the seasonal blossoms and local scenes of Shanghai, continued to evoke strong emotions and inspire new representations in his art.

Using Woo’s chronologically ordered masterpieces, the essays in this catalogue explore Woo’s unique status in Chinese painting history and how his relocation from Shanghai to Ohio reshaped his identity and art. Julia F. Andrews focuses on Woo’s artistic career in Shanghai, where he lived for the first six decades of his life, as well as his work after he left China to create a new life as an Asian American artist in Columbus, Ohio. Kuiyi Shen discusses the Shanghai art world of the late nineteenth century through the 1950s, from which the artist Woo Chong Yung emerged. Hou-mei Sung highlights the symbolic language Woo created through his flower and bird motifs to convey his thoughts and feelings across his lifetime.

Like numerous early Asian immigrants, Woo experienced not only deeply buried longing and nostalgia for the hometown he left but also fading memories and transformative new experiences that gradually reshaped his personal and artistic identities.

A NOTE ON WOO’S NAME AND DATES

Woo’s official name in Chinese is 吳仲熊 . After migrating to the United States, his official name became Woo Chong Yung (simplified as C.Y. Woo). As is typical for immigrants, when Woo’s name is mentioned outside China, it can be pronounced or