Professor C.C. Lee was an avid art lover, whose study of Chinese ink painting began at an early age. Her systematic training started in 1964, when she enrolled in the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Fine Arts department. Among the distinguished faculty of the department Professor Ding Yanyong had a particularly profound impact on the future of Professor Lee. Ding Yanyong’s classes were convivial affairs, held in a small scale and were characterised by an affinity between himself and his pupils. Ding took great pleasure in providing practical demonstrations in his classes and would dedicate and gift works to his students upon their graduation. Ding recognised Lee’s deep commitment to her studies and her great affinity for art and dedicated several works of particularly high quality to her over her four years of study. Part of her collection was sold in Christie’s 2018 Spring sale, in which the proceeds were used to establish the Ms. Lee Chi Chong Scholarship (In Memory of Prof. Ting Yen Yong) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Professor C.C. Lee’s private collection also includes pieces from her family collection. Xie Zhiliu’s works are particularly well represented, including a diverse array of subject matters with impeccable provenance. Many paintings from her family collection are dedicated to Shoushi, Piji, or painted in Shoushi Tang, and are works directly gifted from the artists to her family members. Shoushi was a textile giant in the Mainland before 1949 and later moved to Hong Kong. Because of Professor Lee’s lifelong devotion to art, she was gifted with this collection of beautiful and rare works from the family.
Fourteen works from this collection are also available in Christie’s Fine Chinese Modern Paintings sale on 28 May 2019 (Lots 1201-1214).