A late framed oil painting by Korean born Zen Wako depicting the goddess of mercy Kannon in an ethereal light based on the 7th century Kudara Kannon held in Horyuji Temple in Nara. Oil on canvas in a wooden frame, the painting is 33 x 24.5 x 2 cm (13 x 10 inches). The frame is 49 x 39.5 x 6.5 cm (19-1/2 x 16 x 2-1/2 inches) and both are in excellent condition.
Zen Wako was born in Pyongan (modern day North Korea) in 1909, while that country was under Japanese Influence, and one year before it was officially annexed by Japan. He was first recognized in 1929 when his work was accepted into the Korean national Art Exhibition. In 1933 he came under the influence of Nishida Tenko (1872-1968), a spiritual figure in Japan who founded the Ittoen (Garden of One Light) Society. He began studies under Suda Kunitaro in 1945, and came to exhibit with the Kohdo Art Organization, taking top prize there in 1948. He would help to establish an art organization for Korean peoples living in Japan (Zai Nichi Chossen Bijutsukai) in 1953, and would serve as head of the Kansai area branch. His work would be exhibited in Europe, Japan and Korea. It currently is held in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Gwangju Museum of Art and a Painting of Kannon in the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. He died in 1994. Unfortunately, due to the lack of consensus on how to spell Korean names in English, his name can be written Chon Fua Fan or Chow Wha Whang or any combination thereof.
