Tseng Yu-ho (曾佑和; 1924-2017), who is also known as Betty Ecke, was an artist, art historian and educator.

Biography

She was born in

Peking, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

. 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 (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

. When she recovered, she began studying paintingwith the chief Manchu House representative Prince Pu Jin. She graduated from Fu-jen University in 1942, and then pursued graduate studies in Chinese art history and Chinese literature at Fu-jen University and

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

. She married art historian

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

in 1945. Tseng started receiving international recognition in 1946, when Michael Sullivan began praising and writing about her work. The Eckes moved to Honolulu in 1949, where Tseng earned a master's degree from the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

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. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

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 second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

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 and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

toured her solo exhibition to ten museums. Tseng had a solo exhibition at the

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

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

New York University Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...

. She taught Chinese Art History at the

from the 1970s to 1986. Yu-ho was one of the founding members of th
Society of Asian Art of Hawaii
She died in China on Sept. 16, 2017. As an artist, Tseng Yu-ho is best known for her

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "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 assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

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

Honolulu Museum of Art 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. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

, is an example of this

technique.

Style and works

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

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

, and

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. 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.

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 1924 births 2017 deaths Artists from Hawaii 20th-century Chinese women artists 20th-century Chinese artists 21st-century Chinese women artists 21st-century Chinese artists Collage artists Women collage artists American art historians Women art historians American orientalists New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni Women orientalists Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese women curators American women curators American curators