Oil Paintings of Unbanned Artists Catalog, 1990, Image provided by ARKO Arts Archive
Artists who defected to North Korea
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service
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Jeong Hyeonung
Jeong Hyeonung (1911-1976) was born in Seoul. He received his first selection to the Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] for his 1927 work Old Castle as a senior high school student at Gyeongseong 2nd Highschool. He submitted his works to the Joseon Art Exhibition eighteen times until 1943 and won a special award twice. He argued that “arts should describe the contemporary era” and an artist “should pursue realistic and experiential subjects.” He also produced a variety of newspaper illustrations and magazine covers for Dong-A Ilbo, Choson Ilbo, Chokwang, Yeoseong (Women) and Sonyon (Boy), after he began to work at the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper company in 1935. After Independence, he served as a secretary-general of the Joseon Art Constructional Committee and as a member of the Korean Art Alliance [Joseon misul dongmaeng]. He later joined the National Guidance League after the inauguration of the South Korean government. He took a job as a secretary-general of the South Korean Art Association during the Korean War and moved to North Korea after the restoration of Seoul in September 28, 1950. After relocating in North Korea, he was appointed as a production manager at the Joseon Material Culture and Relics Conservation Committee, a publishing division commissioner at the Korean Artist Federation [Joseon misulga dongmaeng], and a head of painting division at the Art Studio. He copied murals of Anak Tombs Nos.1-3, the Gangseodaemyo Tomb, and King Gongmin’s Tomb from 1952 to 1963.
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Lim Gunhong: The Forgotten Painter
Lim Gunhong: The Forgotten Painter was an invitational exhibition held at the Lotte Museum of Art from February 8 to 20 in 1984. Lim’s exhibition is the only one devoted to artists who defected to North Korea before the Korean government’s decision in July 1988 to officially release the pre-liberation works by artists who defected to North Korea. In 1931, Lim made his debut as a painter by receiving an honorable mention for Spring Sketch at the Tenth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] under his real name Lim Suryong and for Face at the Second Nokhyanghoe Association Exhibition. He founded the Nokgwahoe Association in 1936 and continued to hold exhibitions until 1938. In 1939, he operated the Yerim Studio (design studio) along with Eom Doman. Later, he traveled to Beijing, China, and produced a vast body of works depicting Chinese landscapes. After Korea’s liberation from Japan, he was active in the Korean Plastic Arts Federation [Joseon johyeong yesul dongmaeng] formed in 1946 and the Korean Art and Culture Association [Joseon misul munhwa hyeophoe] founded in 1947. Lim worked at the Seoul National Art Studio during the Korean War and is believed to have defected to North Korea after the restoration of Seoul on September 28, 1950. He served as a propagandist for the Eastern Front Art and Performance Corps of the Ministry of Culture and Propaganda in North Korea. Later, Lim became the head of the Kaesong branch of the Korean Artist Federation [Joseon misulga dongmaeng]. In 1962 he moved to Hamgyeongbuk-do Province to continue his creative pursuits. The exhibition Lim Gunhong: The Forgotten Painter was made possible thanks to the efforts of art critic Yun Beommo. In 1983, Yun discovered the remaining works of Lim and learned that Lim was not a defector to North Korea but was abducted and disappeared shortly after the Korean War. The exhibition featured forty oil paintings by Lim Gunhong, including Seated Woman, which earned an honorable mention at the Fifteenth Joseon Art Exhibition (1936), and Nude and Model, both of which were part of his son’s collection. The exhibition catalogue, titled the same, was also published. This catalogue features sixty oil paintings and ten sketches that successfully showcase the work of Lim Gunhong, an artist who had been forgotten in the history of modern Korean art. His oeuvre was built through self-study during the colonial era.
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Lee Qoede
Lee Qoede (1913-1965) was born in Chilgok, Gyeongsangnam-do as the second son of a wealthy landowner family. He was strongly influenced and supported by his brother, leftist intellectual Lee Yeoseong and specialized in the history of art, clothing, and folklore. He graduated from Soochang Elementary School in Daegu in 1928, Whimoon High School in 1933, and the Department of Western Painting at the Teikoku Art School in Japan. His works, such as Fate (1938), Night Picnic (1939), and Swing (1940), were selected for the Nikakai Exhibition. After his return to Korea, he founded and led the New Artists Association and its exhibitions from 1941 to 1944. After independence, he was appointed as a committee member of the painting division at the Korean Plastic Arts Federation [Joseon johyeong yesul dongmaeng] and a chairman of the Western Painting division at the Korean Art Alliance [Joseon misul dongmaeng]. After visiting North Korea, he became a centrist and founded the Korean Art and Culture Association [Joseon misul munhwa hyeophoe]. where he was appointed as a chair. In 1948, he joined the National Guidance League. While working as a lecturer at Hongik University, the Korean war broke out, after then and he contributed to the Korean Art Alliance. He escaped Seoul just prior to the 1950 September operation to retake the city but was arrested by the South Korean army and held in prison camps in Busan and Geoje. In an exchange of prisoners, he opted to go to North Korea. In 1988, when the ban on artists who defected to North Korea was lifted, his family revealed his works, such as the People series, A Beggar, and Fate, to the public. He then was re-evaluated as one of the most significant artists in Korean modern art history.
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