Hung Hsien’s opening at Asia Society Hong Kong

Hung Hsien’s opening at Asia Society Hong Kong

Hung Hsien’s second retrospective exhibition opened at the Asia Society Hong Kong (ASHK) on March 24th. Her first solo retrospective had opened last year on April 16th at the Asia Society Texas in Houston. Given her nonagenarian-related trepidation, she wavered, leaning mostly towards not attending. The tipping point seemed to be having high tea at the famed British Peninsula Hotel (a nostalgic memory for her) and reassurance from a robust retinue of nephews Paul and Fred and significant others Chris, Michael and I all in for the Queen of modern ink painting. And so, off she flew halfway across the globe bringing 92½ years of diasporic memories!!!

Margaret as she prefers to be addressed was the 6th in the ASHK series of notable but less heralded Chinese women painters of the 20th C. In fact, she was the first one still alive and able to attend their own exhibition! During the event-filled opening week, she gave video and audio interviews and tours, photo ops, a breakfast presentation and Q&A, and training of the docents. Clearly, Margaret’s physical presence made the exhibition come alive through constant interactions with both art-affiliated and other attendees who connected with her art. And, her exhibition was intentionally juxtaposed with the famed Art Basel Hong Kong art fair to allow international attendees to view her show, which happened.

ASHK is a beautiful contemporary museum designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien in a lush oasis of foliage located in the mid-levels of the Admiralty District on Hong Kong Island. It opened in 2012 adjacent to the British Consulate. Grey granite and variegated marble lined the angular walls of the new construction and the remaining original structures have been repurposed into an art gallery, theater and offices. In fact, ASHK is built upon a former British armory evidenced by excavated cannons and the still visible original rails for the carts to carry heavy munitions down to the harbor. It features a zigzag bridge and covered walkways reminiscent of Suzhou temples. Above the adjacent metropolitan fray, lush banyan and palm trees sheltered chirping birds.

As anticipated many important art people attended the opening, none moreso than Liu Kuosung (age 94) her former schoolmate from National Taiwan Normal University. Professor Liu is the celebrated founder of the then avant garde Taiwan-based Fifth Moon Group of which Margaret was the most prominent woman. This was a historic reunion of two icons of abstract ink painting, both living nonagenarians! A third member of the intended reprise was the leading Hong Kong abstract ink painter Wucius Wong. All three had exhibited together in a 1983 exhibition documented in archival photographs. But alas, he was taken ill and could not join. My father was intimately involved in this history as he discovered Liu Kuosung in 1964, organized the first exhibitions of the 5th Moon Group in the US, and brought him to the US on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, thus changing the arc of his career and that of modern Chinese ink painting. Liu introduced him to Margaret in 1966.

Some of the notable global attendees included curator Lesley Ma (Met NYC), noted art historian/editor Zheng Shengtian (Vancouver), artists Zheng Chongbin (SF) and Michael Cherney (Beijing), collector/artist Hugh Moss (HK), and gallerists Daphne King (Alisan in HK). One of the remarkable serendipitous interactions was with Yvon Chu, the son of the famed Chinese-French artist Chu The-Chun. He had been her oil painting professor and painted her portrait featured in both exhibitions. Yvon and Margaret marveled over the unbeknownst portrait which he, as head of his father’s art foundation, needed to document for their archives. I played a role in this story as this painting deemed critical to the exhibition had been misplaced for more than 30 years. Despite exhaustive searches by the three curators, it remained hidden. On the last afternoon of the lastday of my final visit to her studio before the exhibition, I had a premonition. At the very bottom of a large stack of dusty, flat cardboard boxes beneath her husband’s desk, I fully earned the new moniker ‘art sleuth’.

The exhibition was organized by her artistic phases: traditional Chinese ink painting (birds and flowers) as a student, abstract oil and return to ink during graduate school, her mature nature-inspired organic forms for which she is known. Several works by Liu and Wong helped provide context and reprise their joint exhibition of 1983. Many of the painting legends included contemporaneous photos of her. My two favorites were of Margaret painting in intense, elegant concentration whereas another renders her as a Canadian woodswoman on Hornby Island. A final hallway displayed her Hornby Island (off Vancouver Island) series and provided a complete timeline of her artistic life.

Three works which had not been exhibited in her first retrospective included two from the her show at the Martha Sutherlands gallery in 2016 and a black/white/beige diptych depicting a snow scene painted while in Hong Kong in 1982 when she taught ink painting at Chinese University of Hong Kong. She had not seen that latter painting in 43 years and had completely forgotten it. After staring and reabsorbing it at length, she finally declared ‘it is a beautiful painting’ and in her typical vast understatement ‘it is a good painting’ which of course with her high standards signifies outstanding.

I will try to capture the tenor of her opening. Margaret was her usual mindful and gracious self as she greeted and responded to the many attendees of all ages. Besides those who had previously crossed paths, I was impressed by how many young 20-30 something mostly female attendees approached her to tell her how much they enjoyed her artwork and to ask for a photograph together. I queried one group of three young art aficionados who had just accosted Margaret as to what resonated with them. One responded ‘freedom’ and another affirmed ‘movement’ both of which Margaret unequivocally captures in her work. In addition, because this was largely Chinese, Hong Kong-based audience, they showed a deeper knowledge and appreciation of modern abstract ink painting than the largely white, Houston-based audience. The lead curator Chris told me this was the largest, most spirited opening he had seen at ASHK, certainly due to Margaret’s unique paintings and personal warmth!

What were other highlights of Margaret’s grand tour? After having slept well (who does?) during her 14-hour flight, after checking into the hotel, she declared she was ready visit a museum. Off we went to M+, a brand new (2021) contemporary art museum devoted to Chinese and Asian contemporary works, 2D, 3D installations, digital, AI-generated. The featured exhibition was a major show of Zao Wu-ki’s (Chinese-French) prints which she walked through and bought a catalog. She had met him in Hong Kong in 1980s. Five hours later !!! she had viewed the rest of the museum by wheelchair, never once dozing off. The local curators told me their usual endurance is three hours at the most! Margaret’s Herculean art stamina became part of her 2026 Hong Kong legend!

At Art Basel for the first time, art booths extended the length and breadth of two entire floors of the massive HK Convention Centre. For comparison to my national medical meetings, all the poster boards and pharmaceutical displays were replaced by art works from well-known to emerging unshielded by glass or encasements as would be in a museum. Dizzying visual delight, eye candy everywhere. We visited all eight booths featuring modern and contemporary ink painting and breezed through many more, for which Margaret often shared pithy assessments. We spotted several oil paintings of Zao Wu-ki, perhaps the most highly regarded of the Chinese émigré-French artists, whose works were selling for 1 million USD. We also spied a complete set of Andy Warhol Campell soup cans and a Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture, for sale!

Our culinary adventures concentrated primarily on high-end Shanghainese food with xiao long bao (soup dumplings), crystal fried shrimp with peas, marinated jellyfish, century-old eggs with dofu, drunken chicken, fried egg white, roast duck, all at a high titer of gluttony. High tea at the Peninsula Hotel, a holdover from the British occupation, refreshed one of Margaret’s upscale memories. I might add it is amazing how much a micro crustless cucumber, egg, and salmon sandwiches can cost!

We should all aspire, at the age of 90, to have Margaret’s energy level, her sense of adventure, her deep appreciation of art, supported by our own dedicated crew. What an art adventure for a nonagenerian!

Margaret’s 92nd birthday celebration at Asia Society Texas

During her solo retrospective held at the Asia Society Texas from April to September, 2025, host curator Owen Duffy planned to fete Margaret on her 92nd birthday. The planets were aligned for Tiffany Beres, guest curator, and Prof. An-yi Pan (my father’s former student) to give short lectures followed by a custom-designed cake. The only misalignment was that the planned catalog rollout had been delayed.

Can one imagine a birthday at 92, an age when many contemporaries are no longer, where 135 friends and supporters attended? It speaks to Margaret’s large Houston-based community and her artistic staying power. Attendees included a trustee, friends and family, her calligraphy students, National Taiwan Normal University alumni and various art-interested viewers, many Chinese of course.

Before the celebration, Margaret and I went around the largely empty galleries. A number of attendees approached her. Beyond the obligatory praise, two common themes struck me. First, they described ‘being deeply moved by her paintings’ suggesting a more powerful impact beyond the visual. Second, they told her they had been to the exhibition two or three times, providing evidence of the first. As always, Margaret was her smiling gracious self and connected easily with her fans.

During the lectures, Margaret was intrigued by An-yi’s insightful juxtaposition of her ‘Autumn hills’ 1968 (Harvard) and Gong Xian’s ‘Ten thousand peaks and ten thousand valleys’ circa 1670 (Reitberg) – that my father wrote about. Later, she said, ‘even though there are similarities in our compositions, our styles are actually very different.’ She was seated next to Nancy Allen, a major museum donor, at the front table. But when Margaret later asked me to identify who was sitting alongside her, Margaret realized she had mistaken Nancy for a collector and admitted that she committed a small faux pas. Quickly we began to laugh at the image of two doddering matrons speaking nonsense to each other, each thinking the other must be crazy.

Afterwords, the specially-designed two-layered cake was intended to mimic Margaret’s iconic ‘Floating without end’ 1970 (CT/B Li collection) and fed the entire gathering. As you can see, it indeed captured her flowing ‘chi’ strokes and palette colors. TC was brought by Paul and sat nearby enjoying the cake. Many old friends approached TC as well.

Although Margaret received the first piece of cake, people quickly began to line up to speak with her and I daresay she didn’t get to ingest any. I marveled at the line which stretched a dozen or so long. Margaret was glowing, radiating warmth and fully engaged with each, recalling crossed paths and old times. Fortunately, friends provided some hydration. A number brought items for her to sign, one even brought a piece of calligraphy inked by Margaret in 1992. Her magnetic draw was eye-opening and heartwarming.

I began chuckling to myself as I observed the long queue … to break up the tedium, I went up to Margaret and whispered in her ear, ‘it’s like you’re the pope giving out blessings – everyone wants to be blessed by you!’ We both started laughing and laughing. Continuing to riff on her exalted status, I went up and down the line and told them that when they reached Margaret, each would be granted a additional decade of longevity. One immediately responded, ‘I‘ve been through once but need 20 years, so I’m going through again! ’When I later recounted this story to Owen, he automatically made an impromptu sign of the cross and Margaret quickly responded with her own flourish … of course air brushstrokes!

It was a wonderful celebration, Margaret was thrilled to her core and you can appreciate her sense of humor!

Teh-cheong “TC” Chang: The last of a well-lived life

Teh-cheong “TC” Chang, aged 95, passed away peacefully during the early morning of August 30th, 2025 at his ‘assisted’ apartment in Houston.

My parents became close to them nearly 60 years ago through my art historian father’s interest in Margaret’s abstract ink painting. TC and Margaret would join my parent’s wedding anniversary, birthdays and memorial celebrations and travel together in the US, to Asia and Europe to view Chinese paintings. Although I have known them over 50 years since Margaret graciously inked a painting for Teri and my wedding invitation, we three became especially close after Teri and my parent’s passing to the point that TC became my ‘tennis uncle’ and Margaret my ‘art auntie’. I stayed with them more than a dozen times in their condo overlooking Hermann Park in Houston, visiting several times a year. Just recently I realized that it was a special place that reminded me of my parents’ home, every wall adorned with ink paintings and every flat surface piled high with art books or art objects. The two of them always welcomed me with warmth, slowed my frenetic pace and shared insights from their life’s vignettes with me, always like a return home.

I wanted to share a few reflections as I happen to spend the last few days with TC before his passing.

TC’s professional life was as an accomplished architect who served as one of the principals on the Chicago O’Hare Airport and the uniquely domed Washington DC Subway (Harry Weese). He was the main architect of the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Museum, a suburban Chicago County Court complex, and the Milwaukee Symphony Hall, where Teri and I listened to concerts. And also, you name it whether underground or on the water, his portfolio included houses, parking garages, tennis and yacht clubs. As he told me, it was not easy making a living as a full-time architect in those days which underscores how good he was.

After designing a tennis center and given a free membership, TC took up tennis at the advanced age of 42 and began his ‘semi-professional’ avocation. Fast forward to a phase when his peers were using canes, he was playing tennis 3-4 times a week and won the prestigious gold ball as #1 USTA 80-85 Men’s Doubles Team having survived 80 of the top-seeded US teams through single elimination play!! He readily admits that his partner Russell Seymour was the elite one, yet he selected TC! In another astounding feat he and Margaret won the Houston mixed doubles age group championship multiple times. Although I never got to see him in tournament play, I suspect his consistency, ball placement and court strategy – he told me he was the master of the lob – served him well against towering 6-footers and former US Open and Wimbledon players. We bonded over tennis as TC always gave me tips on the court and would arrange for me to hit with Lori McNeil, his pro trainer, herself a former US Open and Wimbledon semifinalist. Yet where was the trophy case for the more than 50 trophies I could locate? Nowhere in evidence. These prizes were utilitarianly being used as serving plates, drinking cups and miscellaneous storage, and Margaret frequently would point out in their living room ‘oh, that’s another trophy’. I think Margaret’s quote ‘I may be a small person but my [ink] brush is powerful!’ could be repurposed for TC as ‘I may be short, but I wield a big raquet’!

TC developed RSV pneumonia and cardiac issues in early January and was hospitalized nearly continuously until April 15th. I visited him both in January and April, and although bedridden and not up to talking, I managed to bring him Chinese noodles from the stir-fry bar much to his relief. We all knew he had been pointing to the opening of Margaret’s solo retrospective at the Asia Society Texas on the 16th. But up until the day before, his attendance was completely unsettled, as he was so weak and listless that he was being considered for hospice. But he ‘rallied’ and 'woke up' the day before with all of the out-of-town family, almost as if given a dose of adrenaline. Within a 24-hour window, he was discharged from the hospital and transported by ambulance back to assisted living for the night. Then, with the help of a slew of nephews and grandnephews Paul, Fred and Simon, support aides and wheelchair, he made it to the opening! And to complete the mission impossible, he was whisked directly from the opening to a rehabilitation facility. Knowing TC and his ‘rallies’, we were amazed but not surprised! It was very heartwarming to see TC and Margaret at the pinnacle together, knowing how ill he was.

Given that a good group of family were present, we held an early celebration for his 95th birthday at the rehabilitation hospital, with his favorite dishes including Chinese-style lobster with ginger and scallions.

Remarkably after his family and I dispersed to home with great trepidation about his precarious medical status, his health roller coaster of the spring yielded to a level track between April and August. Although in a weakened, non-ambulatory state, he was still able to consume his daily Wall Street Journal, enjoy his favorite Chinese cuisine, and win at bridge, always the competitor!

Again, he roused for Margaret’s birthday celebration at the Asia Society Texas on the August 23rd with the help of Paul and myself. This was another grand celebration of Margaret’s art life and her relationships from teaching Tai Chi and calligraphy. It was attended by 135 enthusiastic supporters who listened to two lectures and shared in a double-tired cake designed after one her paintings.

During the same weekend we shared a seafood dinner with TC, Margaret, Cindy (Margaret’s cousin), Eric (Cindy’s son), Paul and I at Confucius Restaurant where we ordered ‘his’ desired double lobster special and as usual he ate with gusto.

On the 25th, though I did not know it then, I shared his last lucid evening. It began with a dinner at his favorite Vietnamese restaurant Lua Viet Kitchen where we managed the in/out transition by wheelchair without the benefit of a ramp. He ate pho and beef with rice noodles with aplomb. Back at their apartment, AJ, his long-time cardiologist-tennis buddy made his daily home visit. You heard that correctly, a cardiologist who makes home visits, but only to TC as they bonded nearly 40 years ago over tennis and the Colorado Rockies.

After the home visit, I updated TC on the next exhibitions and museum donation plans for Margaret’s work. Every so often he would interject ‘That’s good’. I asked him about additional exhibition venues and he astutely suggested Singapore, where indeed, they held a recent retrospective of Liu Kuosung, the founder of the famous 5th Moon Group avant garde group where Margaret was the main woman artist. We had not thought of that!

I then asked TC about his most favorite architectural project. I fully expected the answer to be the Washington Subway or the Milwaukee Symphony Hall, but instead he mentioned one unbuilt design and one custom house. In the first, he and Y.C. Wong submitted one of 300 applications for the Boston City Hall design competition and they made the final eight. When each of those eight teams made their final pitch with model, TC’s design came in second, but he staunchly maintained theirs was better than the winning design because of its contemporary design and internal ‘flexibility’ (movable walls) that enabled greater aesthetic appeal, functionality and longevity – indeed that building has since been torn down. The one that didn’t get built that had his full stamp, architectural prowess and peer approval was still dear to his heart.

The other, another surprise, was one of his smallest projects, a custom house and studio on Hornby Island (off Vancouver Island BC) for Margaret’s art students the Weiss’. This site was where Margaret spent parts of the summers of 1974-77 and inspired her 'Hornby Island' artistic phase where she sketched en plein air and later painted small animated landscapes of rocks, wind-swept trees/roots and driftwood. There on the isolated island terrain, TC surmounted challenges that included a dearth of available labor, earth movers, and even improvised using driftwood to supplement the limited lumber supply. He told me the owners wanted a single bedroom, but he overrode them in prescient fashion and add a flexible 25’ square space that eventually accommodated their two children!

I think TC’s choice of two projects that no one else would see are revealing. It wasn’t simply the magnitude or prominence of the project that made it memorable, it was the uniqueness and challenges he overcame that made them stand above all the recognizable ‘big name’ projects.

The following morning TC began to slip away and became minimally responsive just before I left. I gave him a final hug, said a few words to him, as tears swelled in both Margaret’s and my eyes.

TC was one of the most optimistic and resourceful people I’ve ever encountered. When he didn't get an architectural summer job in Chicago (already filled), he went back and queried whether they needed draftsman, which they did! When describing how he survived a massive heart attack, he identified being so close to Houston’s medical mile, promptly receiving stent placements, and the ‘boutique’ cardiology care from his buddy AJ. He was relentlessly positive in recounting these tales of challenge. As a Chinese immigrant in the 1950’s when prejudice abounded, he was able to thrive professionally. On multiple occasions during his architectural career, opportunities came serendipitously, and, from his skills. When queried about his opinion on potential problems on a design for a Hong Kong skyscraper, his many insights led him to a job working for one of the top real estate developers there.

Where did TC’s character come from? TC said his father taught him the game ‘go’ (Chinese chess) as a metaphor for life, ‘always think and plan several steps ahead.” After TC began beating his father as a youngster, his father took him to play his adult go-playing friends with a little side wager. TC invariably won and, with an impish grin, told me that that is how he got his spending money in grade school. That anticipatory sense was omnipresent and served him well throughout his life. And his positivity and openness enabled him to get along with anyone, even amongst the bastion of white tennis giants.

At first, TC’s out-sized architectural accomplishments and ‘racquet-teering’ (as president of the Houston Tennis Association) impressed me, but increasingly as I helped Margaret secure her long overdue her solo retrospective exhibition, I began to appreciate fully his iremarkable partnership with and support of Margaret. TC had tasked me with this exhibition project and told me he wanted it to happen and ‘cost was no issue’.

What distinguished TC from many accomplished Chinese peers of his era was his unwavering support of his other’s aspirations. From the beginning of their relationship, he enabled Margaret to pursue her artistic dreams to their fullest. Margaret acknowledges that TC’S financial support meant that she never had to rely on selling paintings to make a living, potentially being stuck in a commercial rut. After completing the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, he suggested Margaret as a potential solo artist, and voila. TC encouraged her to accept the teaching job at Chinese Hong Kong University halfway round the world until he could find a job there. When we traveled together to Asia Week in NYC, the Freer (Smithsonian) Gallery and Vancouver, Margaret drove the art agenda while TC served as the trailing spouse providing all the support services. Finally, their home speaks loudest where TC is relegated to the dark northside bedroom for his office and storage of her oil paintings. The remainder of their sunny living space is fully arrayed with her paintings, her large painting tables flush with art supplies, every flat surface piled with flat sketches and unfinished paintings, and every other table or bookshelf cluttered with art objects and catalogs in Chinese and English. Their home became Margaret's devoted studio and gallery. The allocation of space reveals all as any architect knows.

TC was an indomitable spirit, an accomplished architect, an elite ‘elder’ age group tennis player, and a very good person. He lived a beautiful life, participating and contributing fully. In the end what I most admire about him was his partnership, his unwavering belief and full support of Margaret. And for me personally, TC was full of adventure, ideas, openness, generosity, and shared pride in others' achievements … he was perfectly avuncular, the perfect 'uncle'.

TC, may you rest in deserved peace. You will be missed.

A peripatetic spring

After my radiation staycation this fall, I rebounded with 10 trips this spring (January to early July) including one east-directed global circuit to India and Taiwan. I am sharing a few photos.

February – Survey of India (north to south with Steve’s extended family, food galore

Taipei – Following in my father’s footsteps (former students, widow of artist Hsia Yi-fu with seascape, artist Lee Chun-yee – my father’s mentee with Rocky Mountains)

Mendham – The g’kidz Naomi, Jack & Meimei

NYC – Asia Week with NYC friend Steve, curator Einor, artist Kelly Wang, with Alan and Suzanne, Lois and David, and chef and owner at trendy Cantonese fusion Phoenix Palace and mound of lobster fried rice

Houston – Hung Hsien’s opening at Asia Society Texas (quiet moments during installation, earth view and Margaret preparing for calligraphy)

Honolulu – A talk at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting (and summiting Diamond Head with colleagues)

Hilo – Kilauea (Pele) coming alive with Mark and Marianne (who both work on the telescope atop Mauna Kea)

Madison – With Memee my 96 year old pediatric mentor and Rachel and Ben’s first pediatrician

It has been a busy spring, traveling and I’m learning more about the application of AI to pediatric GI!