Jan Knap: Windows to Paradise

04 Jun 2026 - 18 Oct 2026

Jan Knap, Untitled, oil on canvas, 2025

The exhibition Windows to Paradise at the Archdiocesan Museum in Olomouc presents the internal dialogue between Jan Knap's contemporary paintings and ancient iconographic traditions. Knap has been inspired throughout his life by the works of old masters, and so the exhibition will feature selected paintings from the permanent collection to give visitors a better understanding of his sources of inspiration and to follow the artist's individual development. In addition to his current oil paintings, the exhibition will also feature Knap's graphic works, small watercolors, and part of his personal collection of holy images.

“A painting is a window into a deeper reality,” says Jan Knap. Windows open up visible things that can move a person to see what lies beyond them. Knap conceives his art as a meditation on life. Seemingly naive and charming depictions of sacred themes actually conceal dramas that the author conveys in a unique way—using Christian symbolism, which in his case we can call “contemplative iconography.” This method allows the viewer of the artwork to reflect on the individual symbols separately, but in the context of the work as a whole, it reveals a higher meaning. It is an old method of artistic language that touches on the very semantics of the term “Andachtsbild,” or devotional image.

Jan Knap (*1949)

The painter lives in Planá near Mariánské Lázně, in a Gothic house that he renovated. He previously lived in Germany, Brazil, the USA, and Italy.
After fleeing Czechoslovakia in 1969, he studied under Gerhard Richter in Düsseldorf. He enjoyed his first successes in Germany, followed by other countries, mainly Italy.
Jan Knap is one of the most internationally successful Czech artists.

This understanding of his work is underscored by the fact that Knap is known for his perfectionism. He repaints figures and objects, shifts them around, and often does not consider a painting finished for many years. He constantly strives to ensure that what he wants to express is executed in the best possible way. In his perfectionism, we can see his humility and deep reverence for the mystery he contemplates. Jan Knap brings liveliness to the rigid world of symbols and adds a certain kind of tenderness to it. We gaze with him at the sacred, which naturally leads us to inner contemplation. Knap’s paintings exude an anagogical light – they compel us to look upward, toward something that transcends us. Knap’s artistic expression thus carries the ancient synecdochical function of sacred images – communicating the mystery of salvation.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)