AAP is the continuation of a long journey, which has started several decades ago in Hamburg Germany with 诚意斋 Gallery for Ceramics & Calligraphy, which became Pilscheur Fine Art in London in 1988 and went underground for almost two decades from 1993 till its re-emergence in Basel in 2011.

Today it’s headquartered in a 12^th c. chapel a stone-throw away from the Basel Art Museum.

While AAP’s approach to art and life is best characterized by the term Zen-Art and the related concept of wabi-sabi we are open to collaboration with all artists with an intimate concern for – to quote Gauguin – where do we come from – who are we – where are we going?

Tom has a biographical background/ involvement with art in as much as both his grandmother and her daughter, Tom’s mother, were painters – and also his sister is an artist, based in Berlin. He himself took a deep interest into philosophy from an early age of under ten years onward and soon was fascinated by the transcending power which artistic expression at its best is capable of transmitting. While studying and graduating in Sinology and Japanology his main focus became Zen and what he today calls Zen-Art. Thus, being an altogether independent soul, he started his first art venture out of university in Hamburg during the 1980ies. The nascent gallery was dedicated to Ceramics & Calligraphy since the latter is the oldest existing abstract art form par excellence and the former an Ur-form of the creative mind: in some aboriginal traditions the Potter is identified with the Creator….

While going back to the roots of art Tom also aimed at bridging East and West and thus included contemporary artists from both angles in his portfolio.

The venture proved to be a challenge, but Tom managed to bring his ceramic artists to shows in Hongkong where he found success, thanks to the East-Asian tradition, where ceramics are not just products but appreciated as true art ….

In the mid-80ies Tom moved to Luxemburg following the call of a dedicated collector of his who for a couple of years became the partner in the local gallery Interfence Sarl. However by chance his best Japanese friend and collaborator in the project provided a job as art consultant and buyer for a new Western Modern Art Museum project out of Osaka in 1987. Thus it became possible to combine Western Art business with Eastern Art sponsoring. In the process Tom moved to London and rebranded as Pilscheur Fine Art at Connaught Square, a stone’s throw from Hyde Park Corner.

Pilscheur Fine Art started to create impact soon, but the collapse of the Japanese economy after the real-estate crash in 1989 put an end to that story. As a result the entrepreneur changed from art consulting to business consulting and with that became active as Enzo Consult International with art activities reduced to a hobby at the side. In 1995 Enzo joint ventured with Beijing Sinotrust and became YuanXin. Tom continued to meet and exchange with artists in Beijing including those Chinese artists he had represented in London. However it took a business career on its own to be capable to reopen a gallery in Basel in 2011. That was AAP under which brand the journey of establishing bridges between East and West is continuing to the present day.

Basilea, 2025