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The Art Museum of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) held the opening ceremony of the special exhibition “The Wong Family: A Century of Collecting” on 8 September. The exhibition presents the precious collection of Chinese paintings and calligraphy generously donated by the Wong family to the CUHK Art Museum over the years, recognising their noble spirit of transforming private heritage into public treasure. The exhibition is open to the public from now until 22 March 2026. The ceremony was officiated by Mr Raistlin Lau Chun, Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hong Kong SAR Government; members of the Wong Peng Cheong family; Ms Cecilia Ho Chung-chee, President of the Lee Hysan Foundation; Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, CUHK’s Vice-Chancellor and President; Professor Anthony Chan Tak-cheung, CUHK’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Alumni/Community Engagement & Institutional Advancement) ; and Professor Josh Yiu Chun-chong, Director of the CUHK Art Museum, among others.

Officiating at the opening ceremony, Professor Lo said: “I find it very moving that the Wong family has individually concluded that the collection should be reunited for public enjoyment and education. We are grateful that you have entrusted the heirloom collection to the University’s Art Museum. Your thoughtful donations have significantly enhanced the museum’s art collection, broadened our curatorial vision, and facilitated our strategic partnerships with other institutions, such as the Central Academy of Fine Arts.”

Mr Lau said: “In our push for tourism in Hong Kong, we hope that the art-lovers and visitors will also discover how this leading university is also home to a growing and spectacular art collection of national renown. The fact that the cosmopolitan Wong family had collected classical Chinese art, and that their public-spirited descendants from different parts of the world have donated their family treasures to a public institution makes this exhibition a unique Hong Kong story — a testimony of Hong Kong’s long-standing philanthropic tradition.”

Dr George Wong, representing the Wong Peng Cheong family, said: “The Wong collection was largely made in Guangzhou between the First and Second World Wars. There was a friendship between my father Wong Peng Cheong and the Lee family when I was growing up in Hong Kong, playing tennis with Chien and Anthony Lee. Our family is honoured to present the Wong collection to the CUHK Art Museum, which is also the home of the J.S. Lee art collection. That the two collections are now united is a manifestation of the century long friendship of the Lee and Wong families.”

Ms Ho said: “Today, we are especially delighted to join the celebration of the opening of ‘The Wong Family: A Century of Collecting,’ made possible by the Wong family’s major donation. Hosting this exhibition in the Harold and Christina Lee Gallery is especially meaningful, reflecting the enduring friendship between the Lee and Wong families — a bond spanning generations. It is truly heartwarming to see members of both families gathered for this special occasion.”

The exhibition celebrates the donation of one of the last premier collections, including paintings, rare books and artefacts, assembled during the Republican Period to a public institution in Hong Kong. The heirloom collection had been in private hands for a century. Featuring over 100 precious art objects, it reveals the development of Chinese art over the Ming and Qing periods, as well as the collecting taste of the Guangdong elite. In recognition of the Wong family’s noble spirit of making their family treasures accessible to future generations, the Museum is honoured to present this special exhibition as a tribute to the family’s enduring legacy. Highlights of the collection include Wen Zhengming’s Falling Blossoms Poems and Painting, Bada Shanren’s Calligraphy after Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi and Wu Li’s Feng’e Mountain Villa. The exhibition is organised by the Art Museum and sponsored by the Lee Hysan Foundation. The Central Academy of Fine Arts has contributed to the publication of the catalogue.

The calligraphic writing for the exhibition’s Chinese title, Linghai Molin (“a Collection from the Guangdong Region”), has been specially collated from characters written by Wong Siew Nam, Wong Siew Chan and Wong Peng Cheong, paying tribute to the Wong family’s generosity and their contributions to public cultural heritage. During the turbulent and unstable social period of the early 20^th century, young members of the Wong family went to study abroad, in order to introduce new ideas and knowledge to China. Among them, Wong Siew Chan, who was one of the few Chinese students to enrol at Oxford University before the fall of the Qing dynasty, became the custodian and steward of this collection. The Renaissance man embraced Chinese heritage by collecting exceptional pieces and learning to paint in traditional styles. His family residence, built by his eldest brother Wong Siew Nam in Guangzhou’s Lychee Bay and named “Xiaohuafang Zhai” (“Studio of the Small Pleasure Boat”), was a hub for artists and intellectuals from 1902 until the 1940s. Wong Siew Chan’s passion for art, rare books and artefacts inspired his heir Wong Peng Cheong to keep his collection intact. Upon Wong Peng Cheong’s passing in 1997, his children donated the family collection in batches over 25 years.

In addition, the catalogue The Wong Family: A Century of Collection (Volumes I – IV) has been published by the Art Museum. Comprising a series of scholarly essays by the Museum’s research team, alongside contributions from experts and academics, it offers detailed insights into the collection and its historical background, as well as the significant impact of the paintings on subsequent generations. The catalogue is available at the Museum’s bookshop and online store.

“The Wong Family: A Century of Collecting” exhibition

• Exhibition Period: from now until 22 March 2026
• Venue: Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Phase 1: from now until 19 October 2025
  Harold and Christina Lee Gallery & Gallery 4, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Phase 2: from 20 October 2025 to 22 March 2026
  Gallery 4, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

This exhibition is divided into 10 sections, highlighting the rich variety of art styles and heritage lineages:

1. The Rise of the Wong Family and Xiaohuafang Zhai
2. Traces of the Ming Literati from Suzhou, Shanghai and Nanjing
3. The Beauty of Figure Paintings
4. The Orthodox School and its Followers
5. The Art World of the Jiang-Zhe Region during the Qing Dynasty
6. The Fragrance of Virtue: Ming Loyalists’ Works in Guangdong
7. The Legacy of Guangdong Elites
8. Guangdong Scholars and Painters
9. Collecting in Shanghai
10. Wong Family Poetry and Paintings

Please click HERE to download the exhibition photos.