Rosemary Chen
The Chazen Museum of Art extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Rosemary Ho Chen, who passed away on August 12, 2026 at the age of 97. Together with her late husband, Simon K. Chen, Rosemary was one of the museum’s most generous benefactors. The donation of their Chinese art collection leaves a lasting imprint of culture, scholarship, and philanthropy on the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
“Rosemary and Simon Chen’s generosity has transformed the Chazen Museum of Art,” said Chazen Director Amy Gilman, noting that before the gift, the Chazen had few Chinese paintings and no works of Chinese calligraphy. “By entrusting us with their remarkable collection, Rosemary and Simon created a powerful bridge for cultural understanding and scholarly discovery. Their legacy ensures that generations of UW–Madison students, faculty, and visitors will have direct, immersive access to these impressive works.”
Rosemary’s life with Simon began on a shared journey. In 1948, while aboard a ship bound from China to the United States, she met Simon, a young mechanical engineering student. Smitten from the start, Simon told his sister that Rosemary was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen (and that he had just fourteen days to woo her). As both pursued their own studies, their connection strengthened, leading to their marriage in 1952, the same year Simon graduated UW–Madison with a PhD in mechanical engineering.
A diesel engine design expert, Simon built a distinguished engineering career and later went on to teach and mentor students as an adjunct faculty member in UW–Madison. Rosemary earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Barat College in Lake Forest, IL, and worked at UW–Madison’s McArdle Cancer Research Lab while Simon was in school. After raising their four children— Margaret, Lillian, Vivian, and Victor—she worked for Simon’s consulting firm, Power Energy International.
Central to Simon and Rosemary’s shared life was a strong commitment to preserving Chinese culture and fostering a deeper appreciation for Chinese art in Wisconsin. Together, they gave to the Chazen a landmark collection of 125 works, dating from 1692 to 1996, now known as the Simon & Rosemary Chen Family Collection. It features calligraphy, paintings, woodblock prints, and rubbings, ranging from expressive landscapes to colorful representations of flora and fauna. It includes masterworks by early Qing artists Zhu Da and Yu Zhiding, Republican masters Gao Qifeng and Chang Dai-chien, as well as pieces reflecting the post-Cultural Revolution revival of traditional ink painting. In 2007, the museum celebrated their gift with the exhibition Hall of Self-Reliance: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from the Chen Collection.
The Chens also donated to UW–Madison’s Kohler Art Library more than 200 rare books and serials on Chinese art, acquired during travels to Taiwan in the 1970s and mainland China in the 1980s. Together with the artwork, these donations create an invaluable teaching and research resource for students and faculty.
Following Simon’s death in 2011, Rosemary remained a steadfast supporter of the Chazen, and her vision inspired her family to carry the torch forward. In 2022, her daughter Vivian Chen and son-in-law Andrew Swanson established the Simon and Rosemary Chen Family Fund for Asian Art at the museum and named one of the Chazen’s study rooms the Simon and Rosemary Chen Family Study Room for Works on Paper.
“Rosemary’s enduring dedication and the continuing support of the Chen family reminds us of the deep power art has to teach and inspire across generations,” said Gilman.