Hyundai Misul, 1974. Image provided by Kim Daljin Art Research and Consulting
Myeong-dong Gallery
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service
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Pak Nosoo
Pak Nosoo (1927-2013, pen name Namjeong) studied under Lee Sangbeom (pen name Cheongjeon) in 1945, and then at the Department of Fine Arts at Seoul National University from 1946 to 1952. He won various awards at the National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) from 1953 to 1956, including a Prime Minister Award (1953), a President Award (1955), and four consecutive special selections, which made him a Noteworthy Artist in 1957. He regularly contributed his works to the annual National Art Exhibition (until it was terminated in 1981), and actively engaged with the exhibition as an Invited Author, judge, and steering committee member. He was one of the main artists of the National Art Exhibition and a member of the Republic of Korea's National Academy of Arts. He worked as a professor at Ewha Womans University from 1956 to 1962 and at Seoul National University from 1962 to 1982. His early works were often female figure paintings with simple lines in black ink, and then, after the 1960s, he produced experimental landscape paintings, including several reinterpretations of traditional paintings. Representative of this interest is Namjeonghwa, a painting depicting a boy, a deer, a horse, a river, and a tree, using the vivid colors and exquisite lines that were signature features of traditional Korean paintings. In pursuing such work, he suggested new formal approaches for traditional Korean paintings and subject matter.
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To Sangbong
To Sangbong (1902-1977, pen name Docheon) learned western painting from Ko Huidong at Bosung High School. He graduated from the Department of Western Art at Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1927 and participated in the Yeoran and Dongmi alumni groups. He organized a Drawing Exhibition with Gu Bonung and Lee Haeseon in 1931. After Independence, he participated in the National Art Exhibition as a judge from 1946 to 1961 and became a member of the Republic of Korea's National Academy of Arts in 1957. His works were based on the Classicism and Academism that he learned at Tokyo School of Fine Arts. His work was characterised by regular compositions and warm colors. In his early years, he mainly produced portraits, but he switched to softly painted still life subjects, such as flowers or Korean white porcelain objects mid-career. During his late career he created realistic works presenting Oriental philosophy as he saw it embodied within historically significant landscapes. To Sangbong achieved significant influence in Korea thanks to his gentle translation of the Western Academic tradition.
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Kim Kichang
Kim Kichang (1913-2001, pen name Unpo or Unbo) studied Eastern painting at Kim Eunho’s art studio Nakcheongheon. After his debut in the tenth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] in 1931, he won special selections from 1937 to 1940, and became a renowned painter. He was appointed as the first president of Paek Yang Painting Association and became a professor at Hongik University and Soodo Women's Teachers College. He was awarded the Order of Civil Merit, Peony Medal in 1981 and the Korean Art Academy Award in 1983. After he passed away in 2001, he was awarded a posthumous Geumgwan Order of Culture Merit award. Although Kim initially focused on colorful figure paintings, following in the legacy of his mentor Kim Eunho, in his later career he collaborated with his wife Park Rehyun to modernize Korean painting by adopting cubism and abstraction. He reinterpreted traditional folk paintings in his representative works, such as Blue-green Landscape Painting series started in the 1970s and his Fool’s Landscape Painting in the 1980s and was inspired by portraits of historical figures. He contributed to the development of Korean modern art by working in an expanded formal territory from figuration to abstraction and addressing subject matter from folk painting, to figure and landscape painting.
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Contemporary Prints Grand Prix Exhibition
The Contemporary Prints Grand Prix Exhibition was a printmaking competition hosted by Myeong-dong Gallery in 1971 and 1973. In the 1970s, Myeong-dong Gallery published the Selected Works of Korean Contemporary Prints (1971) to stimulate the distribution of prints and held a competition for the first time as a commercial gallery to discover new talents in printmaking and improve the quality of printmaking. The First Contemporary Prints Grand Prix Exhibition (October 14–20, 1971) was held under the sponsorship of the Asia Foundation and The Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper. Simultaneity-Childhood 71 by Suh Seungwon won the gold prize, Pantomime 2353-II by Song Burnsoo won the silver prize, and Hanging out on Namsan Mountain by Kim Jinsuk won the bronze prize. Wall by Lee Seungil, When a Single Leaf is Shaking by Baik Kumnam, and A Sobbing Woman by Kim Tchasup received honorable mentions. The second competition (September 1–8, 1973) was co-sponsored by The Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper and the Korean Contemporary Printmakers Association [Hanguk hyeondae panhwaga heyophoe]. With sixty-two entries, there was no gold prize winner. Situation A by Jeong Ingeon won the silver prize, and Chisel 7315 by Kim Jinsuk, and Black and White 73/4 by Shim Sookoo won the bronze prize. The competition was only held twice due to the lack of awareness of painting circles at the time and the indifferent response from artists. However, the first gold prize winner Suh Seungwon went to Japan with the prize money, which contributed to the advancement of Korean artists overseas.
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Gallery Hyundai
A gallery located at Samseong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The gallery opened in April 1970 in Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, under the joint management of Han Yong-gu and Park Myung-ja. Started as Hyundai Hwarang (Hyundai Gallery), it was renamed as Gallery Hyundai in 1987. When it first opened, the gallery contributed to the development of contemporary Korean art, featuring the work of contemporary artists instead of antique calligraphy and paintings, which were actively exhibited and traded in Insa-dong. In September 1973, the gallery published an art magazine titled Hwarang, with an editing staff consisting of Lee Heung-u, Lee Gu-yeol, Park Rhaikyoung, Heo Yeonghwan, and Oh Kwang-su. After 1988, the magazine was renamed Hyundai Misul and it continued to be published until 1992. The gallery regularly held exhibitions of major figures in Korean contemporary art, such as Park Sookeun, Lee Jungseop, To Sangbong, Nam Kwan, Yoon Jungsik, and Chun Kyungja. After it moved to a new building in Sagan-dong in 1975, the gallery expanded the base for Abstract art through exhibitions featuring Yun Hyongkeun, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Park Seobo, Chung Sanghwa, and Lee Ufan.
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