Gu Bonung
Gu Bonung, Portrait of a Friend, 1935, Oil on canvas, 62×50cm. MMCA collection

Gu Bonung

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Gu Bonung (1906-1953, pen name Seosan) was born in Seoul. He started his education in drawing at Gyeongsin Highschool. He learned sculpture from Kim Bokjin of Goryeo Art Studio [Goryeo misulwon] and then won an award for Self-Portrait at the 6th Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] in 1927. He attended Kawabata University Painting School in 1928 and studied at the Department of Aesthetics at Nihon University before graduating from the Taiheiyo Art School in 1933. He was selected for the Nikakai art exhibition in 1930. After returning to Korea, he participated in minor artists groups and non-govermental art associations, such as Mogilhoe Association and the White Savages Group, instead of applying to the Joseon Art Exhibition. In his essay “Theory: War and Artist” (Maeil Sinbo (Korean Daily News), 1940.7.9.), he was accused of a Pro-Japanese bias after he encouraged artists to serve the Japanese empire. Immediately after independence, he worked as an editor of fine art in the Ministry of Culture and Education of the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) in Korea and was a part-time employee of the Seoul Sinmunsa Newspaper Press in 1949. His paintings illustrated a powerful decadent style based on a dissenting spirit and Fauvist Expressionism. In the mid-1930s, he began focusing on Oriental style oil painting.
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art by Korea Arts Management Service

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