The Posthumous Exhibition of Three Artists—Kim Junghyun, Gu Bonung and Lee Insung, Poster, 1954, Image provided by GALLERY YEH
Cheonil Gallery
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service
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Gu Bonung
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.
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Kim Junghyun
Kim Junghyun (1901-1953, pen name Cheolma) graduated from Gyeongseong High School in 1919 and was a self-taught artist. Kim Junghyun worked on both Western and Eastern paintings from 1925 to 1943. He was continuously selected for the Joseon Art Exhibition and was selected in both the Eastern and Western Painting Divisions in 1936. In 1949, he participated in the 1st National Art Exhibition as a Noteworthy Author and judge. He created unique and original artworks focusing on Korea-related themes and in the 1930s, began to produce folk paintings dealing with ordinary people’ lives and landscapes. His works, including A Painting of a Shaman (1941) and Nongak Nori (1941), addressed Korean folklore, such as Shamanism and Pungmul nori (traditional Korean famers music). His folklore works depicting the everyday lives of people during the Japanese colonial era evoked comfort through his use of a warm, distinctly indigenous palette. During the Korean war he painted directly onto ceramics while living in Busan. Throughout his career, Kim Junghyun used local materials and modernist idioms to depict the everyday life of ordinary people with an original Korean sensibility.
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Lee Insung
Lee Insung (1912-1950) was born in Daegu as the second son in a working class family. He graduated Suchang Elemantary School in 1928 and studied water painting at Seo Dongjin’s Daegu Art Studio. He joined a local art group, Hyangtohoe Association, from 1930 to 1934. He was first selected for the eighth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] when he was 17 years old, followed by consecutive special selections from the tenth to fifteenth exhibitions. He won a Changdeokgung Palace award in 1935 and became a Noteworthy Artist in 1937. He moved to Japan in 1931 to attend evening classes at the Taiheiyo Art School and rigorously focused on developing his art. After independence, he worked as an art teacher at Ewha Womans Middle School in 1945 and was a judge of Western painting at the first National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) in 1949. He died in an accident during the Korean war in 1950. His work often featured vibrant color and free lines, and a creative structure. He pioneered a new style of art that featured the local color of Korea in original new ways.
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