Peter van Os, a 41-year-old Dutch art dealer, has visited many Chinese museums, galleries and art fairs over the past 17 years.

However, it is only until recently that he has realized his dream of bringing modern Dutch art to China.

The "Peter van Os Fine Arts China Exhibition Tour" kicked off on October 31 at the Wan Fung Art Gallery in downtown Beijing and will run until November 7.

The exhibition displays 150 works, including oils, watercolours, and sculptures created over the past 70 years by artists well known in the Netherlands and Western Europe.

Among the artists are Eef van Brakel, Engelbert L'Hoest, Jit Nieuwenhuis, Simone van Raaij, Ingeborg van Nierop, Joost Beerents, Ben Bodt and Wim Motz.

Historically, a relationship between Chinese and Dutch entrepreneurs started 400 years ago. "The VOC (United Eastern Indonesian Company), a 17th century Dutch trading company, took boats to Asia and started to exchange goods from Europe," said van Os.

Today, there is a strong tie between the two nations despite the distance. "Chinese products and Chinese culture are very popular in the Netherlands and has become part of daily life," added van Os.

He said Chinese people have shown a keen interest in European art.

"Almost every Chinese I met knows about Vincent van Gogh, Monet, and Rembrandt," he said.

And now they can be invited first hand to modern Dutch and other European art.

The 94-year-old fine arts gallery is based in Arnhem, in the Netherlands.

Entering the business in 1974, Peter van Os is the third generation of the family to run a gallery. After graduation in the history of art, van Os became one of the youngest art traders and registered valuators in the Netherlands.

Young artist Simone van Raaij will arrive in China tomorrow and appear at the art exhibition and interact with Chinese artists, critics and viewers.

Unlike in the West, working with spiritual feelings has been much more integrated in the daily routine of life in China.

The exhibition tour will move to Shanghai later this month for the Shanghai International Art Fair which runs between November 17-22, then to Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and finally to Wuhan next May, for the celebrations which mark the 15-year-long friendly ties between Arnhem, the home city of van Os, and Wuhan as "sister cities."

"During my trips to China, I have become increasingly intrigued with Chinese culture and traditions and started to feel at home," said van Os.

He hopes to establish a long term relationship with Chinese art circles and is planning to organize an exhibition tour of European antiques to China late next year.

(China Daily November 4, 2004)