Cho Joonghyun
Cho Joonghyun, Crane, unknown, Ink and color on paper, 67x67.5cm. MMCA collection

Cho Joonghyun

  • naver
  • kakao
  • facebook
  • twitter
Cho Joonghyun (1917-1982) was a Korean painter, who went by the pen names Dango and Simwon. He was born in Yeongi-gun, Chungcheongnam-do Province, and after graduating from primary school, he began to teach himself how to paint when he was unable to enter middle school due to his family’s poor financial situation. He went to Seoul and studied Eastern painting in earnest at the Nakcheongheon Studio run by Kim Eunho. He became a founding member of the Husohoe, which was formed in 1936 by disciples of Kim Eunho. He studied abroad in Japan for a year. He made his debut in Korean painting circles by receiving an honorable mention at the fifteenth Joseon Art Exhibition [Joseon misul jeollamhoe] in 1936 with Demoiselle Crane and won honorable mentions several times since then. He became the center of attention in the art scene when he was awarded a special prize at the twenty-first (1942) and twenty-third (1944) editions and the Joseon Governor-General Prize at the twenty-third edition. After Korea’s liberation from Japan, Cho participated in the formation of Dangu Art Academy [Dangu misulwon], making efforts to cleanse the Japanese color and restore the ethnic authenticity of traditional painting of Korea. In 1948, he held the exhibition Seven Eastern Painters at Dong Hwa Gallery (September 25–October 1), along with other established Eastern painters (Kim Kichang, Park Rehyun, Lee Geonyeong, Lee Seokho, Lee Palchan, and Chung Chong-yuo), and opened the Eastern Painting Research Institute [Dongyanghwa yeonguso]. In 1957, Cho and eight other mid-career Eastern painters (Kim Kichang, Kim Youngki, Kim Junghyun, Park Rehyun, Lee Yootae, Lee Namho (Geumchu), Jang Deok, and Chun Kyungja) joined forces to form the Paek Yang Painting Association [Baegyanghoe], which provided important momentum in the transition to contemporary Eastern painting. He was awarded the Chungnam Cultural Prize in 1959 and the Order of Cultural Merit in 1982. Recognizing the unfairness of the jurying process of the National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon), Cho Joonghyun kept his distance from the exhibition and did not participate in it. However, he became a recommended and invited artist at the exhibition, and after 1961 a jury member. He also joined the annual Contemporary Art Exhibit in 1959 and served as a member of the Korean Fine Arts Association [Hanguk misul hyeophoe] and a professor at Ewha Womans University. He was renowned for his bird-and-flower paintings and was skilled in ink-and-wash landscape paintings.
* Source: MMCA

Related

Find More