Lu Cong

Lu Cong was born in Shanghai, China in 1978. He emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was eleven. The family settled in Muscatine, Iowa, along the Mississippi River.

He attended the University of Iowa, where he received a degree in Biology. He also studied fine art. In 2000, Lu Cong moved to Denver. He attended graduate school to pursue a Masters Degree in Social Science and Humanities at the University of Colorado and joined the Denver Art Students League. 

In 2002, his large, expressive portraits garnered much attention and his works were exhibited at the at the Art Student's League and the Salon d ‘Arts. 

Although he always drew as a child, and continued the practice, Lu Cong said that painting portraits was where he found his passion. “Even studying art history in college, I found something so special and magical about large portraits, particularly the ones by [French neoclassicist Jean-Auguste-Dominique] Ingres,” he said in an interview with Colorado Homes Magazine. “There’s something so beautiful about those classic paintings. Ultimately, portrait painting is more about the painter than it is about the subject, and I think I see things with a similar eye to Ingres.”

In 2020, Lu Cong was commissioned by Time magazine to paint a portrait of author J.K. Rowling for their series of covers of 100 important women.

His works have been shown in many institutions and galleries including Gallery 1261 in Denver, the Henoch Gallery in New York, the LeVIne Gallery in New York, the Vail International Gallery in Vail, Colorado, the University of Connecticut and the University of Denver.

Lu Cong works and lives in Denver with his wife and daughter.