TSENG YUHO

Tseng Yuho, also known as Betty Ecke, is an internationally acclaimed artist, distinguished scholar, and educator. Born in Beijing in 1925, she began studying painting from an early age. In 1937, she studied brush painting with Fang Zhaoling and was privately tutored by Prince Pu Jin. In 1942, while she was a student at Furen University in the art department, Beijing, she supplemented her studies by conversing with well-known academics and artists. In 1949, she moved to Hawaii and attained her MA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii in 1966. She obtained her PhD from New York University in 1972. She was made a full professor at the University of Hawaii in 1973 and the deputy director of the Asian Art Department at the Honolulu Museum of Art. In 1989, she retired while continuing to paint and do research. In 1990, the Japanese Buddhist Association named her “Living Treasure of Hawaii”. In 2005, she returned to live in Beijing. Upon first inspection, Tseng’s work appears to contain abstract forms executed in Chinese ink and colour on paper, making use of classical strokes and dots, but without traditional subject matter. However, upon closer study one discovers landscapes or other forms in these misty abstractions. In the 1950s, she experimented with layering and the patching of gold or silver foil that she named dsui. These remarkable works were first shown in a travelling exhibition sponsored by Smithsonian Institute, and in 1955 were shown in ten museums and art centers in the United States.