Lee Jungseop
Lee Jungseop (1916-1956, pen name Daehyang) was born in Pyongyang. He learned oil painting from Yim, Gilbert Pha at Osan School, Jeongju. He attended the Teikoku Art School in Japan in 1936 and moved to the Bunka Gakuen to learn oil painting in 1937. During his school years, he submitted his work to Japan Free Artists Association [Jiyū bijutsuka kyōkai] in 1938 and to the New Artists’ Association [Sin misulga hyeophoe] Exhibition. After his return to Korea in 1943, he was active in Wonsan and moved to South Korea with his family after the outbreak of the Korean War. He sought shelter in Busan and Seogwipo but had to send his Japanese wife and two sons back to Japan in June 1952 due to financial difficulties. He submitted work as a war correspondent painter. He orchestrated solo exhibitions in Tongyeong in 1953 and Midopa art gallery in Seoul and for the United States Information Service Center at Daegu in 1955. He died at a Red Cross hospital in 1956 after suffering from malnutrition and liver cirrhosis. His works, such as White Ox, illustrated local subject matter and family life with a simple touch, and one of his drawings on silver foil was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A high-profile posthumous exhibition in 1972 at Hyundai Hwarang greatly increased the popularity of his work among the general public.
Chun Kyungja
Chun Kyungja (1924-2015), (born Chun Okja), was the daughter of Chun Sungwook, a gunseogi (clerk) of Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, and Park Un-a. She graduated the Gwangju Public Girl's high School and completed the Japanese art program at the Joshibi University of Art and Design. After independence, she was hired as a teacher of art at the Jeonnam Girls High School, her alma mater. Her private exhibition received positive reviews, and she was hired as an instructor of art at the Chosun University. Afterwards, she worked as a professor of the College of Fine arts at the Hongik University from 1954 to 1973, and she achieved renown as one of the foremost women artists in Korea, winning the Great Korean Art Association Exhibition President's Award in 1955, the National Academy of Arts, Republic of Korea Award in 1979, and the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit in 1983. Her primary subject matter consisted of feminine subjects, to the extent that she was described as the artist of "flowers and women." Her work is celebrated as being entirely distinct from the contemporary Korean art styles of the period, and defined by its autobiographical themes and fantastical colorwork.
Nam Kwan
Nam Kwan (1911-1990) graduated from the Taiheiyo Art School in 1935 and performed research for two further years. He submitted his work to the Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition (Munbuseong misul jeollamhoe), Donggwang Group Exhibition, and the Gukhwa Group Exhibition in Tokyo. In 1954, he attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumièrec in Paris and was invited to submit his work to the Avant-Garde Art Exhibition Salon de Mai and Fleuve Art Gallery. After returning to Korea in 1968, he became a professor at Hongik University. Before he went to Paris, he created portrait and landscape paintings, emphasizing lyrical colors and free expression. While Nam Kwan’s early works tended to focus on figuration, he switched to Oriental style of abstraction, influenced by Parisian Art Informel. In 1962, he experimented with abstract works symbolizing ancient letter inscriptions and after his return to Korea in 1968 he developed a style based on mask abstraction. He liked to utilize abstract letters, lines, and figures using blue as an organising palette. Nam Kwan became a leading figure in the abstract art movement in Korea after independence, and he is particularly well-known for reconfiguring ancient inscriptions as abstract idioms within his work.