An He (An Ho), Coming Ashore, ink and color on silk, framed

L.J. Wender Fine Chinese Paintings, New York, 5th December 1996.

Ink/Stone, Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, 2022, cat. no. 8.

An Ho was born in 1927 in Beijing, China. Her father was the chief editor of several newspapers and her mother, a painter of flowers. In 1944, An Ho was introduced to Pu Ru in Nanjing and began receiving critical acclaim for her work in 1952, most notably becoming the first woman artist to be given a solo exhibition at Taiwan’s National Historical Museum.

Considered Pu Ru’s finest student, studying under his guidance for seventeen years, An Ho was able to establish a strong foundation in Chinese painting, becoming proficient in both Tang and Song dynasty techniques – the pinnacle of Chinese art. Her dream-like landscape paintings are a pure and tranquil expression of the universe, scaled down to terms comfortable for the human eye. Along with her superb manipulation of color, her art invites us to take pleasure in the finer beauties in nature and better appreciate our place in the world.