An unprecedented exhibition of Japanese art arrives in Zaragoza with “Women in Japan”

Nine years ago, a trip to Japan was the trigger for an unprecedented collection of 146 prints that can now be seen for the first time in Spain. After visiting Osaka, Víctor Pasamar decided to go to Tokyo in 2015 and it was there that he bought his first print in a gallery in the Jimbocho neighborhood. Through antique dealers, galleries and auction houses, Pasamar acquired “ukiyo-e” prints from different artists, periods and styles, which unleashed a collecting passion focused on the “bijinga” (beauties) genre. 

Now, a small part of the collection is being brought together at the Sástago Palace under the title “ Women in Japan ”, organised by the DPZ . It covers four centuries from the 17th (Edo period) to the “shin hanga” prints of the 20th century, passing through the peak of the Meiji period, from 1868, when Japan opened up to American and then European culture. 

Charo Lázaro, the DPZ’s deputy delegate for Culture, and Clara Romero Pasamar, delegate of the exhibition and niece of Víctor Pasamar, were present at the presentation. The deputy has taken the opportunity to highlight the value of the Pasamar-Onila collection and “the great generosity of the owners of this collection in lending it to the DPZ to give it visibility and bring Japanese art closer to the public”, she stressed. “I have no hesitation in describing it as extraordinary and one of the best that the Sástago Palace has had in its more than 40 years of history, where the best contemporary creators have been shown in exhibitions of its own production,” Lázaro added. 

In the words of Víctor Pasamar, who was unable to attend the presentation: “I hope that visitors can appreciate all this magic and the beauty of women in Japan in this collection made with all their soul. The Pasamar-Onila Collection is a tribute to the most beautiful person I have ever met, Onila, who passed away prematurely in 2020. All the exquisiteness of this is linked to her memory.” For her part, Clara wanted to thank her uncle for appreciating and “knowing the story behind each of the pieces that we find in this unique exhibition.” 

An exhibition that has the Japanese woman as its protagonist, “the working woman, the mother woman, the loving woman, the intellectual woman, the reading woman, the poet woman, the writer woman” has numbered the cultural delegate. All these women are reflected in the most characteristic genres of Japanese art: “ukiyo-e”, shin-hanga or shunga, a genre dedicated to sex and eroticism.

Visitors will find more than 140 Japanese prints and six books by prominent artists such as Utamaro, Eisen and Yoshitoshi. Among these pieces are three belonging to the National Treasure of Japan, which are the most precious Tangible Cultural Assets of the country of the rising sun. There is also Steve Jobs’ favourite painter, for whom he made special works.

The exhibition can be seen from today until December 29, from Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. On Sundays and holidays it can be visited from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.