Jove Wang

Jove Wang was born in China. As a youth, at age seven he apprenticed with the master painter Gang Gu, subsequently studying at Jilin School of Art for three years and graduating in 1982. In 1984 he was accepted into the most prestigious art institute of China, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now named the China Academy of Art), and graduated as an honor student in 1988. He also received professional training from the Tokyo Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1990 Jove Wang immigrated to the United States, where he soon met with success, the beginning of a career that has garnered him national recognition. In 1992 he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Bishop Roger Mahony for the Archdiocese Catholic Center in Los Angeles, and the following year painted a second portrait of Mahony, who by then had been named Cardinal, for exhibition at his Titular Church in Rome. Other commissioned portraits followed, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and former California Governor Pete Wilson. Since then he has turned his focus to painting scenes of the indigenous cultures of China, based on numerous travels into the far reaches of that country.

In 1997 Jove Wang was honored with Best of Show at the California Art Club's 88th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, and the following year he took First Place in the figure category in the California Art Club's 89th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition. In 1999 he earned Best of Show at the 8th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Oil Painters of America. In 2000 he took First Place at the prestigious Viewpoint 2000 Cincinnati Art Club Exhibition. That same year he also won three prizes at the Plein Air Tucson 2000 Exhibit in Tucson (Grand Prize, Best of Mission, and Best Design/Architecture). In 2001 he won Best of Show and the Artists' Choice Award at the 2001 Carmel Art Festival.

Paintings by Jove Wang are in the permanent collections of several important California art collections, including those of the Bowers Museum, the Bakersfield Museum of Art, and the art collection of Mission San Juan Capistrano, as well as in the art collection of the Museum of Jilin, China. Interviews with Jove Wang and reproductions of his paintings have appeared in various magazines, including Southwest Art, American Art Collector, Workshop, and American Artist.

Jove Wang also maintains a busy schedule teaching art classes and workshops to a wide circle of students eager to learn from a master artist. He has been invited to teach oil painting workshops at various art schools and galleries, including the Scottsdale Artists' School in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition, the California Art Club has invited him to give demonstrations and lectures at the new campus of the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and at the Autry Museum. Jove Wang is also a guest professor at several academies of fine art in China.

Jove Wang is a Signature Member of the California Art Club.