Sklenar deepened his understanding of Chinese culture by meeting literary figures in China, such as eminent painters Li Keran, Wu Zuoren, Ye Qianyu and Hua Junwu, and author and historian Guo Moruo, with whom he discussed the inscriptions of Chinese characters on ancient bronze ware.

Sklenar enriched his own collection by buying antique pieces, Buddhist statues and paintings by Li and Qi Baishi, a master of classic Chinese art who was 92 at the time of Sklenar's visit. Qi held a red walking stick, wore clothes in the colors of grapes and a black hat, and had a mole under his left eye, Sklenar later wrote of his encounter with the Chinese painter.

Sklenar also visited prominent painter Lin Fengmian's studio in Shanghai and purchased three paintings on behalf of the National Gallery in Prague.

The fragmented sentences and drawings in Sklenar's diary allow people today to picture a passing world that is extraordinary, Olivova says, and his Chinese series glitters in the context of modern Czech art.

"I've fulfilled the dream," Sklenar once said about his China trip.

If you go

8 am-5 pm, daily, through Sunday. Anshan Hall, Prince Kung's Palace, 17 Qianhai Xijie, Xicheng district. Beijing. 010-8328-8149.