Department of Art History

We are proud to announce that Art History PhD student Seonghee Ha is the recipient of the 2026 Liu Cong Memorial Prize for the Best Essay on East Asian Art and Visual Culture. 

From the Center for Art of East Asia: "Ha’s essay, “In Her Heart of Hearts: Reconciliation of the Erotic and the Intellectual in Sin Yunbok’s Beauty," examines Beauty, a life-size portrait of a courtesan by Sin Yunbok (ca. 1758–after 1817). Although noted for its portrait-like qualities, it has not been linked to late Chosŏn portrait discourse due to its erotic connotations. This period saw growing skepticism about portraiture’s ability to convey the sitter’s spirit. This essay argues that Sin responds to this concern by mobilizing erotic sentiment—typically excised from the discourses on portraiture—as a source of vitality that animates the image. Positioning romantic feeling at the center of its signification, Beauty challenges the assumption that the erotic and the intellectual are mutually incompatible."

The Liu Cong Memorial Prize recognizes excellent scholarship in East Asian art and visual culture by graduate students at the University of Chicago and encourages the developing of writing skills for publishable essays. CAEA established the prize in 2010-11 in memory of Liu Cong (1979-2008), former graduate student, and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History.

Learn more about the Liu Cong prize, along with a list of past winners.