ZEN ART from Japan - Guided Tour

The exhibition ZENGA ⁠⁠–⁠⁠ Japanese Zen Paintings from the Kaeru-An Collection is the first time the National Gallery Prague is showing a part of the exceptional collection of Zen painting and calligraphy that it received as a gift from the Dutch collector Felix Hess in Protected content . The specialized gallery guide has been booked for us. Over the course of almost twenty years Hess’s collection grew to contain nearly Protected content , mainly scrolls but also some small ceramics and a pair of screens. Hess donated several items to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Protected content the artworks went to the National Gallery Prague. This comprehensive presentation of the Zen Buddhist approach to ink painting and calligraphy is unique in the non-Japanese context (at least within Europe). More than a tenth of the donated artworks will be shown in two rotations in Salm Palace. Their exceptional nature has been confirmed by, amongst other things, the fact that this year the Czech Minister of Culture Martin Baxa awarded the ministry’s Artis Bohemiae Amicis medal to Felix Hess for his extraordinary gift.

There is no doubt that Zenga ⁠–⁠ literally “Zen paintings” ⁠–⁠ which include both paintings and calligraphy, are impressive in a special way because of the effective use of brush and ink. Zen aesthetics present beauty through simplicity, asymmetry and the black-and-white nature of the ink brushstrokes, which are in harmony with the principle of beauty in imperfection and everydayness (wabi).