Cicada

Born in Henan into a family of medical missionaries, Dr. Olaf Skinsnes (1917-1997) had a lifelong affection for China and its culture. He dedicated his life to medicine, making many notable contributions on the study and treatment of leprosy and helped found the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine in 1967. Even though he never resided in China permanently since his grew up, he lived and worked in Hong Kong and Guangdong for ten years and kept in touch with his Chinese friends. Dr. Skinsnes began collecting Chinese art in 1949 until the 1970s, with the intention to acquire art that reflected his current times. Eventually he succeeded in obtaining works by several of the most talented and interesting artists in that period. With a firm belief that art is one of the most effective vehicles to improve understanding between East and West, he also assembled the collection later known as The House of Benevolent Learning Art Collection (Ren de zhai), for teaching purposes and as a continuation of his legacy.