Heo Geon
Heo Geon, Suburbs of Mokpo, 1942, Ink and color on paper, 137×171.5cm. MMCA collection

Heo Geon

  • naver
  • kakao
  • facebook
  • twitter
Heo Geon (1908-1987, pen name Namnong) is a grandson of the prominent nineteenth century Namjong (Southern painting style) painter Heo Ryon. His Sangosujang and Autumn were selected for the nineth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] in 1930, following his father, Heo Hyung. He was continuously selected until the twenty-third Joseon Art Exhibition in 1944 and won a Joseon governor-general award. His work combined the traditional Namjonghwa painting style of his family with a new perspective and coloring methods and blended them into a new modern landscape painting style. In the 1940s, his style emphasized forms influenced by Japanese Shin-nanga painting. He may have also been influenced by his deceased brother Heo Rim (1917-1942), who attended Kawabata Art School in 1940. After independence, he established the Namhwa Research Institute in 1949, and his style changed to create modern landscape paintings with a rough touch and local color. Heo also served as a judge at the National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) from the 1960s to 1970s and became a senior member of the National Academy of Arts, Republic of Korea. He was a symbolic figure of the Mokpo art community. Heo Geon should be distinguished from Heo Baekryeon, who focused on traditional Namjonghwa painting.
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service

Related

Find More