Seoul City Art Research Institute
* Source: MMCA
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Lee Wansuk
Lee Wansuk(1915-1969) was involved in diverse activities in the art and design fields and ran Cheonil Gallery and the Korean Folk Crafts Research Institute [Hanguk minyepum yeonguso]. Born in 1915 in Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do Province, Lee spent his childhood in Seoul. In the 1930s, he studied abroad in Tokyo, Japan, where he attended Taisei Middle School and Taiheiyo Art School. After returning to Korea, he worked as a designer for advertisement and product packages at Cheonil Pharmaceuticals. He also participated in the exhibition held by the Geukhyeonsa oil painters’ group in 1937, along with Son Eungsung, Jo Woosik, Lee Gyusang, and Chae Wonhui. As the demand for propaganda art and printed materials increased right after Korea’s liberation from Japan, he produced works in a variety of mediums, including posters, book covers, and newspaper illustrations. In November 1945, he joined the Korean Art Association [Joseon misul hyeophoe] as a founding member, but he withdrew from the association in February of the following year and joined the Korean Plastic Arts Federation [Joseon johyeong yesul dongmaeng]. In December 1945, he founded the Korean Industrial Artists Association [Hanguk saneop misulga hyeophoe] along with Han Hongtaik, Jo Neungsik, Yu Yunsang, Kwon Yeonghyu, and others. Later, he submitted posters to the exhibitions hosted by the association almost every year. In 1946, he took part in the founding of the Korean Craftspeople Association [Joseon gongyega hyeophoe]. Many of his surviving posters feature lyrical renderings of traditional symbols and motifs of rich local color with a painterly touch. Lee opened Cheonil Gallery in 1954 and organized exhibitions such as Contemporary Artists and Posthumous Works by Kim Junghyun, Gu Bonung, and Lee Insung. However, the gallery closed after half a year due to financial difficulties. While serving as president of Cheonil Department Store, he took the lead in sponsoring artists. He assumed charge of practical matters for the exhibition Contemporary Art of the Republic of Korea that traveled to Southeast Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia) from 1960 through 1961. Lee endeavored to earn foreign currency by exporting Korean crafts overseas. As a case in point, in 1964, Lee opened the Korean Folk Crafts Research Institute at Cheonil Department Store. Moreover, he held the Contemporary Korean Crafts exhibition at the Nihonbashi Main Branch of Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo in collaboration with the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of fifty-four. Cheonil Gallery is the predecessor of Gallery YEH (currently in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu), which opened in Insa-dong in May 1978.
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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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Lee Bongsang
Lee Bongsang (1916-1970, pen name Seokjeong) graduated from the Training Department at Gyeongseong Normal School in 1937. Self-taught in painting, Lee received his first honorable mention at the eighth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] in 1929 at the age of thirteen. He went on to receive honorable mentions and win special prizes, coming to prominence as a painter. He later moved to Japan and during his stay there his work was selected for the Ministry of Education Art Exhibition [Monbusho bijutsu tenrankai]. In 1942, together with Japanese artists active in Seoul, he founded the artist group named Changnyongsa. After Korea’s liberation from Japan, Lee participated in the founding of several artists’ groups, such as the 1950 Art Association, Gijojeon, Sinsanghoe, and Gusanghoe. He was also at the forefront of fostering later generations through the compilation of textbooks and criticism. His early works reflected impressionist realism. In the 1950s, however, he turned to a painting style characterized by bold compositions, bright colors, and a rough brushwork, which he developed through his association with Kim Whanki, Yoo Youngkuk, Kim Byungki, and Park Kosuk. From 1953 he worked as a professor at Hongik University, and from the year 1954 he was invited to participate in the National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) as a recommended artist, invited artist, and judge.
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Seongbuk Painting Academy
The Seongbuk Painting Academy is an art research institute founded by Western-style oil painter Lee Qoede in 1947. From 1946 to 1947, the institute was located within a forty-meter square space in Donam-dong rented by Lee Qoede. In 1948, the institute moved to Myeongnyun-dong, where it stayed until 1949. The institute recruited students to teach various subjects including anatomy, art theory, croquis, and figure drawing. Students also participated in Lee Qoede's masterpiece A Crowd series. Kim Suhbohng, Kim Souckchin, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Nam Kyungsuk, Shim Chookcha, Lee Youngeun, Lee Yonghwan, Chang Seongsoun, Jeun Loijin, Jeong Jeonghui were all educated at the institute. In 1950, Lee Qoede co-founded the Seoul City Art Research Institute with Lee Haesung to continue his pedagogical method.
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Lee Bongsang Painting Research Institute
A painting institute established in February 1957 by Lee Bongsang, located in Anguk-dong, Seoul. In 1960, the name was changed to the Seoul Art Institute. The institute purportedly originated during a croquis gathering of artists including Lee Bongsang, Park Seo-Bo, Kim Tschang-Yeul, and Park Soukho. The institute offered a basic course and professional course for amateur members and art students respectively. The institute also established the Children’s Art Institute, which taught plaster sculpture and oil painting. The teaching staff of the institute included Park Seobo, Ahn Sangchul, Chun Sangsoo, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Chang Seongsoun, Lee Myeong-eui, Bang Geun-taek, Chang Reesouk, and Park Hangsup.
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Korean Art Research Institute
The Korean Art Research Institute [Joseon misul yeonguwon] was a research institution that the Korean Art Association [Joseon misul hyeophoe] established in 1947 in an effort to foster later generations. It opened at the building of the Joseon Art Association located at 2-ga, Namsan-dong, Seoul. The Korean Art Association was a collective founded in November 1945 by several art organizations that gathered for the unification of art circles. After the establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea, it was renamed the Great Korean Art Association [Daehan misul hyeophoe]. In 1961, abiding by the policy of the unification of cultural organizations, it was merged with the Korean Artists Association [Hanguk misulga hyeophoe] and became the Korean Art Association [Hanguk misul hyeophoe]. Ko Huidong, the president of the Korean Art Association, served as the first director of the Korean Art Research Institute, and its vice-directors were Lee Chongwoo and Gilbert Pha Yim. The faculty consisted of Lee Sangbeom, Lee Chongwoo, No Soohyun, Choi Wooseok, Lee Byeonggyu, Kim Junghyun, Lee Yongwoo, Yim Hakseon, Lee Madong, Bae Ryeom, Kim Kyoungwon, Lee Ungno, and Kim Youngki. At the time of its opening, there were newspaper reports that the institute was a success with seventy students enrolled in the day and night departments. Almost no records on what exactly was taught and what activities were performed have survived. However, there is testimony by Park Soukho that he learned Western painting at the institute. It is difficult to confirm the institute’s activities after the opening.
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