Tseng Yu-ho (; 1924/1925–2017) was a Chinese-born American art historian, visual artist, curator, and educator. She taught at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and was a curator at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (now

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

). She is also known as Betty Ecke, Tseng Yuho, and Betty Tseng Yu-Ho Ecke.

Early life and family

Tseng Yu-ho was born either in 1924 or 1925 in Peking, China. As the daughter of an admiral, she had a privileged upbringing. Tseng started painting when she was 11, when she was bedridden for 3 months with

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

. When she recovered, she began studying painting with the chief Manchu House representative prince Pu Jin. She graduated from

Fu-jen University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private education, private Catholic university in Xinzhuang District, Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and ...

(now

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private education, private Catholic university in Xinzhuang District, Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and ...

) in 1942, and then pursued graduate studies in Chinese art history and Chinese literature at

and

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. Yu-ho married German-born art historian

Gustav Ecke Gustav Emil Wilhelm Ecke (13 June 1896 – 17 December 1971) was a German and later American Art history, historian of art and curator. He is best known for his book ''Chinese Domestic Furniture'', first published in wartime China in 1944. The bo ...

in 1945. She had been one of his students at Peking University.

Career

Yu-ho started receiving international recognition in 1946, when Michael Sullivan began praising and writing about her work. The Eckes moved to Honolulu in 1949, where Yu-ho earned a master's degree from the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

, and was the curator of Asian Art at the

Honolulu Academy of Arts The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single collectio ...

from 1950 to 1963. In 1953, she received a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

scholarship to study art collections in the United States. In 1954 the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

toured her solo exhibition to ten museums. Yu-ho had a solo exhibition at the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

in 1959. In 1972, she received a PhD in Asian art history from

New York University Institute of Fine Arts New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. She taught Chinese Art History at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa from the 1970s to 1986. Yu-ho was one of the founding members of the Society of Asian Art of Hawaii. She was named as one of the

Living Treasures of Hawaii The Living Treasures of Hawaii program was created in 1976 by the Buddhist temple Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii to honor residents of Hawaii. It was inspired by the Living National Treasures of Japan award, and is awarded annually. The criter ...

in 1989, by the

Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii (, ''Honpa Honganji Hawai Betsuin'') is a district of the Nishi (West) Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, a school of Mahayana Pure Land Buddhism. History Jodo Shinshu Buddhism was established in H ...

Style and work

Yu-ho artworks vary across different mediums, including traditional Chinese mount-making,

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

, and

paintings Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or " support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, ...

. She started developing her "Dsui Hua" paintings in the early 1950s which would later become her signature style. Her work would later become more abstract but would still keep a connection to the classical Chinese canon.

Death and legacy

She died on September 16, 2017, in China. As an artist, Yu-ho is best known for her

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

s created by tearing and layering colored handmade papers. She called these artworks "Dsui Hua" paintings. ''Seagulls'' from 1965, in the collection of the

, is an example of this

technique.

Selected publications

* Arnason, H. H. and Tseng Yu-Ho, ''Tseng Yu-Ho: Exhibition of Paintings in Watercolor-Collage'', The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1960 * Ecke, Tseng Yu-Ho, ''Chinese Folk Art in American Collections Early 15th Through 20th Centuries'', China Institute in America, New York, 1976 * Ecke, Tseng Yu-Ho ''Chinese Folk Art II: in American Collections, From Early 15th Century to Early 20th Century'', University of Hawaii Press, 1977 ASIN: B00070SJ92 * Nakano, Toru; Ecke, Tseng Yuho; Cahill, Suzanne, ''Bronze Mirrors from Ancient China: Donald H. Graham Jr. Collection'', Orientations, Hong Kong, 1994 * Yuho, Tseng; Link, Howard A., ''The Art of Tseng Yuho'', Honolulu Academy of the Arts, 1989 * Yuho, Tseng, ''A History of Chinese Calligraphy'', The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 1993, * Yuho, Tseng, ''Dsui Hua: Dsui Paintings, a Retrospective Exhibition'', Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong/Taipei, 1992 ASIN: B0023X7EWY * Yu-Ho, Tseng, ''Some Contemporary Elements in Classical Chinese Art'', University of Hawaii Press, 1963

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuho, Tseng 1920s births 2017 deaths Artists from Hawaii 20th-century Chinese women artists 20th-century Chinese artists 21st-century Chinese women artists 21st-century Chinese artists American art historians American curators American women art historians American women curators American orientalists Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese women curators New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni American women collage artists Chinese collage artists Women collage artists Women orientalists