Wu Dayu was born in Yixing, Jiangsu province. He went to France in 1922 and was admitted by National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France ( École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris ), becoming a student of oil painting under the tutelage of Professor Rouge. In 1923 he transferred to the studio of the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle so as to study sculpting. He came back to China in 1927 and taught as a professor in Xinhua College of Arts in Shanghai. In 1928 he established with Xu Beihong the Hangzhou Academy of Art and worked as the dean of the Department of Western Painting. Later, he initiated the Art Movement Society together with Lin Fengmian, Lin Wenzheng, and others, and demonstrated his artworks in several exhibitions organized by the Society. In 1960, he began to teach in the Department of Oil Painting at the Shanghai College of Arts and became a painter in Shanghai Oil Painting and Sculpture Institute in 1965. He also served as the vice-president in the Shanghai Painting Academy and Advisor in the Shanghai Artists Association and the Department of Fine Arts of Shanghai Jiaotong University.