Ho Heng-hsiung--Millionaire Sculptor

With each of his works selling on average at NT$1 million (US$26,000), Ho Heng-hsiung is one of the wealthiest artists in the Republic of China. But despite his affluence, he continues to work hard and endeavors to be faithful to his art. He also finds time to teach at the national Taiwan Academy of Arts, where he often tells his students: "The process of artistic creation can be compared with falling in love. The artist and the lover need the same devotion, patience, and understanding."

Ho was born in 1942 at Taoyuan in northern Taiwan. As a child, he was more interested in playing in the mud than most children. As he did so, he formed the habit of making shapes with the clay. At school his serious attitude during art lessons, while others regarded the course simply as fun, won him the admiration of both his teachers and his classmates. After finishing his junior high school education, he went to Taipei to continue his studies at the Fu-hsing Senior Arts School, where he put most of his efforts into perfecting his sketching techniques. After graduating, he started work as an assistant to Lo Chi-mei, under whose guidance he completed 100 copies of historical sculptures, including earthenware of the Han dynasty, porcelains of the Ming dynasty and the wall paintings at Tun-huang. During this period, he consulted art books every day, until his skill improved and his vision in the arts field was enlarged. In 1962, he entered the National Taiwan Academy of Arts to complete advanced studies in sculpture. During his first year there, one of his works was chosen for display in the International Youth Arts Exhibition in Paris. The years at the academy were the happiest for Ho, since he acquired his basic knowledge and techniques during the period under the influence of famous teachers. Most of Ho's early works were representations of human figure. Later, he found inspiration in inanimate objects. A seed, for instance, could be used to represent the origin of future life. When he started on his artistic career, he abhorred tradition, which he thought was an obstacle to creativity and originality. As he continued his sculptures, his attitude mellowed as he began to realize that tradition is the basis of the future and cannot be ignored.

Below his present residence is an empty apartment containing his sculptural materials, such as plaster, cement, resin and paint, and tools such as chisels, hammers and drills. He regards as one of his best works one entitled "Surrender," which represents Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga) receiving the instruments of surrender from the Dutch in Taiwan in 1661. This piece is now on display at Tainan's Cheng Cheng-kung Memorial Hall.

Ho said the rising standards of living in Taiwan have enabled many people to buy high-priced works of art, and tastes even extend to abstract pieces. This has given great encouragement to Taiwan's artists and sculptors. To reinforce the trend, Mr. Ho plans to buy a small hill to accommodate his and other artists' work for permanent display.