Chao Chung-hsiang
Born: 1919
Hometown: Henan, China
Based in: New York
Like Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-chun and Wu Guanzhong, Chao studied under the renowned artist Lin Fengmian at the National Institute of Art, Hangzhou (currently the China National Academy of Fine Arts) before graduating in 1939. In 1948, he immigrated to Taiwan, and in 1956 won a fellowship to study in Spain. He toured Paris and Europe, before settling in New York in 1958, where he remained for most his life. There he discovered for himself American Abstract Expressionist art, which inspired him to work conscientiously to achieve a synthesis of East and West. The main subjects of Chao's work are flowers and fish, birds, the cosmos and abstraction. From the 1970s, Yin-Yang symbols and hexagrams, which are derived from the I-Ching, began appearing in his paintings, referencing Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In his paintings, blocks of dazzling fluorescent colour sporadically float upon expressive images rendered in rich ink washes. After more than thirty years in New York City, he moved to Hong Kong in 1989, then to Chengdu, and finally to Taiwan. He passed away in 1991, at the age of eighty-one.
In 1972, Chao won the New York Creative Artists Public Service Program Award. From 1997-99 his works were exhibited in the important travelling group exhibition Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions, organised by the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University. His work was also included in the exhibition China: 5,000 Years held at the Guggenheim Museum in 1998.
Alisan Fine Arts began representing Chao in 1985 and has organised 9 solo exhibitions for him since then, including 5 major solo shows, two of which travelled to the Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum; Hong Kong Arts Centre; Alisan Fine Arts; Club 21 Gallery in Singapore in 1999; to National Museum of History, Taipei; National Art Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum; Galerie Adler, Paris; Hong Kong Arts Centre in 2004. Chao’s works have been frequently exhibited at internationally renowned museums, including at the Guggenheim Museum, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, and Hong Kong Museum of Art. Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery organised a solo exhibition for him in 2014. Alisan Fine Arts manages the artist’s estate.
His works have been collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Columbia University, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; National Art Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; Zhejiang Westlake Art Museum, Hangzhou; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong; and M+, Hong Kong.
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Credentials
Awards
Scholarship, Spanish Government, Spain
1956
Scholarship by Spanish Government
1956
Exhibitions
Asian-American Abstraction: Historic to Contemporary, Hollis Taggart, New York
United States of America, 2024
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Hong Kong, 2024
ART SG 2024, Alisan Fine Arts, Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands
Singapore, 2024
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2023
Contemporary Chinese Art, Asian Art in London, Alisan Fine Arts, Cromwell Place, London
United Kingdom, 2022
Rediscovering Chao Chung-Hsiang, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 2022
Past & Present Landscapes, Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2022
Art 021 Platform, online viewing room, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai
China, 2020
Taipei Dangdai, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei
Taiwan, 2020
The Distant Planet: Chao Chung-Hsiang, Museum of Modern Art, Asia University, Taichung
Taiwan, 2019
Taipei Dangdai, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei
Taiwan, 2019
West Bund Art & Design Fair 2018, Alisan Fine Arts, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai
China, 2018
Chinese Abstraction, Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2018
Chao Chung-Hsiang Revisited, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 2017
Art Taipei, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei
Taiwan, 2017
In Flux: Chinese Contemporary Art, Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2017
Alisan Fine Arts: Celebrating 35 Years of Promoting Chinese Contemporary Art, Hong Kong Central Library
Hong Kong, 2016
Syncretic Visions: The First Generation of Chinese Diaspora Artists in America, Alisan Fine Arts, Fine Art Asia,
Hong Kong, 2015
The Odyssey of a Master: Chao Chung-Hsiang, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery
Hong Kong, 2014
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2014
Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2013
Art HK 12, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 2012
Hong Kong International Arts & Antiques Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre
Hong Kong, 2009
Hong Kong Art: Open Dialogue Exhibition Series II- New Ink Art: Innovation and Beyond, Hong Kong Museum of Art
Hong Kong, 2009
3rd Shanghai Ink Biennial, Exploration: New Ink Art Shanghai, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai
China, 2007
Fish and Chao Chung-Hsiang, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 2006
Love of the Cosmos: The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai
China, 2004
Love of the Cosmos: The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Hong Kong, 2004
Love of the Cosmos: The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang, Galerie Adler, Paris
France, 2004
Love of the Cosmos: The Art of Chao Chung-Hsiang, curated by Alisan Fine Arts, National Museum of History, Taipei
Taiwan, 2004
Chao Chung-Hsiang: 10th Anniversary of His Death, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 2001
China 5000 Years, Guggenheim Museum, New York
United States of America, 1998
The Chinese Roots: Works from Mainland and Chinese Overseas Artists, Alisan Fine Arts, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai
China, 1997
The Art of Enlightened Pleasure: Chao Chung-Hsiang, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 1997
Asian Traditions: Modern Expressions, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, New Jersey
United States of America, 1997
Tresors, Alisan Fine Arts, World Trade Centre Singapore
Singapore, 1997
Chinese Abstraction & Beyond, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Honduras, 1997
International Asian Art Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, 7th Regiment Armory, New York
United States of America, 1996
Twentieth-Century Chinese Painting: Tradition and Innovation, Travelling exhibition, British Museum, London
United Kingdom, 1995
Wonders of Chinese Abstraction, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 1995
Art Taipei, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei World Trade Centre, Taipei
Taiwan, 1994
Tresors, Alisan Fine Arts, World Trade Centre Singapore
Singapore, 1993
Art Asia Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong, 1992
Between Two Cultures: The Paintings of Chao Chung-Hsiang, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Hong Kong, 1992
Paintings by Chao Chung-Hsiang, Alisan Fine Arts
Hong Kong, 1985
