Great journey of Korean painting
100 worksmajors in Korean painting
From the arrival of oil to abstract modernism, from Dansaekhwa to social images and new figurations: a Korean century told by a hundred paintings.
A story of passages and metamorphoses
Oil painting established itself in Korea at the beginning of the 20th century in a context of colonization, the movement of artists to Tokyo and the learning of European languages. However, it never remains a simple borrowing. Portrait, landscape and still life are quickly becoming places where modern identity, urban experience and cultural memory are negotiated.
After the war and the division of the peninsula, abstraction opened several paths: cosmic lyricism in Kim Whanki, geometric mountain in Yoo Young-kuk, monochrome frames in Chung Sang-hwa, optical repetition in Lee Seung-jio. In the 1980s, social painting forcefully reintroduced bodies, work, the wounds of history and the accelerated transformation of territories.
This classification therefore does not seek a single school. It brings together works that make oil a medium that is by turns intimate, monumental, critical or meditative. All images show paintings identified as oils on canvas in the public collection of the Seoul Museum of Art.
Founding milestones · 001 -020
Invent Korean modernity
Kim Whanki
Untitled (15-VII-69 #90)
Four autonomous fields are connected by a play of blue, red and black lines, as if several fragments of sky formed a single constellation. Painted during Kim Whanki's New York period, this painting shows the transition between his lyrical signs and the vast punctuated frames that will make him famous.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Yoo Young-kuk
Work
A mountain reduced to a yellow triangle dominates bands of purple and green with almost architectural clarity. Yoo Young-kuk transforms Korean relief into pure tension between planes, colors and proportions, without dissolving the memory of the landscape in abstraction.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Tschang-yeul
Water drops
The drops seem to rest on the canvas and yet they open a mental depth, suspended between illusion, memory and disappearance. Kim Tschang-yeul has made this motif repeated since the 1970s a meditation on matter: oil mimics water while stubbornly revealing the painted surface.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Chang Ucchin
Tree
Two dark silhouettes frame a tree reduced to a few branches, in a light space where each sign retains a sovereign presence. Chang Ucchin condenses village, family, animal and nature into a vocabulary that is deliberately simple, but extremely rhythmic.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Chung Sang-hwa
Untitled
The white surface is worked like a skin made of tiny units, repetitions and erasures. In Chung Sang-hwa, monochromy is not the absence of an image: it makes visible the time of the gesture, the resistance of the canvas and the subtle gap between two modules.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Han Mook
Thunder Tower
Concentric curves and acidic bursts project the composition forward, like a rotating cosmic mechanism. Han Mook combines geometric rigor and a feeling of expansion; space is no longer represented, it is produced by color ratios.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Nam Kwan
Composition
Compact shapes and fragmented signs aggregate in gray, ocher and blue matter which seems to bear the traces of a buried memory. Nam Kwan constructed an abstraction after the war where the vestiges of reality remain perceptible without ever closing into a story.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Rhee Seundja
Untitled
The canvas unfolds like a rhythm map, crossed by colored cells and repeated signs. Rhee Seundja connects modern abstraction to a sensitivity of landscape and natural cycles; color organizes movement as much as breathing.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Ha In-doo
Party
For almost four meters, the chromatic fragments follow one another in a dense and jubilant frieze. Ha In-doo circulates the gaze between geometry, spiritual vibration and decorative energy, giving color the function of a collective space.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Park Hang-sub
The Magician's House
In this dark interior, the magician appears as the guardian of a world where familiar objects and legendary figures merge. Park Hang-sub shifts realism to a mental scene, nourished by fable, memory and strangeness.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Suh Seung-won
Simultaneity 68-7
A large yellow field is split by red and black diagonals which give the surface immediate tension. Suh Seung-won explores here simultaneity as an active relationship between color, void and structure, on the threshold of Korean abstraction in the 1970s.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Seung-jio
Nucleus 77-11
Dark bands repeated with almost industrial regularity make up an unstable optical space. Lee Seung-jio transforms the tubular pattern of his Nucleus series into an experience of speed, depth and light, without resorting to traditional perspective.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim In-seung
Self-portrait
The young painter represents himself with severe frontality, his face cut by brown shadows and a look that does not seek to seduce. Dated 1933, this self-portrait by Kim In-seung testifies to the early installation of oil painting in Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Do Sang-bong
Miss Y
The restrained pose, the light color and the plant background give the portrait a silent elegance. Do Sang-bong Western modeled balance and chromatic sobriety, making the figure less a social symbol than an attentive presence.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Park Deuk-soon
The Han Road Bridge
The Han Bridge cuts the composition and connects two banks of a landscape still marked by reconstruction. Park Deuk-soon observes the modern infrastructure without emphasis: the river, the hills and the road passage together make up a new image of Seoul.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Park Sang-ok
Morning in Seoul
The city stretches out under cold light, between lines of roofs and distant reliefs. Park Sang-ok captures the moment when Seoul changes scale; its touch maintains an atmospheric sensation while recording the density of the urban fabric.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Yi Ma-dong
Landscape of Heukseok-dong
Heukseok-dong appears as a neighborhood caught between slope, tight houses and mountainous horizon. Yi Ma-dong organizes this topography into colorful plans, giving the daily view the stability of a built landscape.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Byeong-gyu
Green leaves, white flowers
Green leaves and white flowers fill the frame without losing the freshness of direct observation. Lee Byeong-gyu makes still life a study of light and rhythm, where vegetation almost becomes an abstract motif.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Im Jiksoon
Flowers and woman
The female figure and the bouquet respond to each other with their colors, their verticals and their calm presence. Im Jiksoon favors a dense and luminous painting in which the portrait remains linked to domestic space and the sensuality of objects.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Dai-won
Near the window
The window does not function as an illusionist opening: it distributes planes, reflections and colored intensities. Lee Dai-won transforms an intimate motif into a touch laboratory, announcing the vibrant orchards which will then occupy a central place in his work.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
See the work at the museum →Post-war · 021-040
The surface becomes a world
Han Mook
Flowers and fish
In "Flowers and Fish", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Han Mook makes geometry an energy field where color continually modifies our depth perception. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a strength that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Han Mook
Space
"Space" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and breaks: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Han Mook makes geometry an energy field where color continually modifies our perception of depth. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Nam Kwan
Silence
"Silence" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Nam Kwan combines fragmented signs and stratified material, letting the story surface without locking it into a literal narrative. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Nam Kwan
Black and white images
"Black and White Images" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Nam Kwan combines fragmented signs and stratified material, letting the story surface without enclosing it in a literal narrative. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Rhee Seundja
Untitled
"Untitled" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Rhee Seundja organizes the surface by cells and repetitions, halfway between the observed territory and the cosmic landscape. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Ha In-doo
Untitled
"Untitled" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Ha In-doo unites abstract construction, decorative intensity and spiritual meditation in one color still active. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Heung-sou
Untitled
"Untitled" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Kim Heung-sou confronts figuration and abstraction so that the body, the plane and the color remain simultaneously readable. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim In-seung
Grandma
The figure of "Grandmother" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by pose, framing and color density. Kim In-seung seeks a clarity of modeling and chromatic harmony that gives the subject a measured presence. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim In-seung
Off Incheon
"Off the coast of Incheon" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Kim In-seung seeks a clarity of modeling and a chromatic harmony that gives the subject a presence measured. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim In-seung
Rainbow clothing
"Rainbow Clothing" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Kim In-seung seeks a clarity of modeling and a chromatic harmony that gives the subject a presence measured. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim In-seung
Pink roses
In "Rose Roses", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Kim In-seung seeks a clarity of modeling and chromatic harmony that gives the subject a measured presence. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Im Jiksoon
Still life
In "Still Life", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Im Jiksoon works with color with a warm density, connecting figure, object and space by the same light. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Dai-won
Orchard
In "Verger", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Lee Dai-won gradually dissolves the pattern into a constellation of keys without giving up the landscape structure. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a strength that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Dai-won
Snow landscape
In "Snow Landscape", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Lee Dai-won gradually dissolves the pattern into a constellation of keys without giving up the structure of the landscape. The work shows how Korean painting transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kwon Ok-yeon
Trace
"Trace" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Kwon Ok-yeon installs objects and figures in a mental, silent atmosphere, sometimes close to dreams. THE gaze flows between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kwon Ok-yeon
Still life
In "Still Life", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Kwon Ok-yeon installs objects and figures in a mental, silent atmosphere, sometimes close to dream. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kwon Ok-yeon
Bird
In "Bird", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Kwon Ok-yeon installs objects and figures in a mental, silent atmosphere, sometimes close to dreams. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Ryu Kyung-chai
Young girl
The figure of "Young Girl" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by pose, framing and the density of color. Ryu Kyung-chai moves from portrait to abstraction while maintaining a keen sense of balance and meditation. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Ryu Kyung-chai
Namu Amitabul 77-4
"Namu Amitabul 77-4" concentrates his subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Ryu Kyung-chai moves from portrait to abstraction while maintaining a keen sense of balance and contemplation. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Ryu Kyung-chai
Celebration 89-3
"Celebration 89-3" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Ryu Kyung-chai moves from portrait to abstraction while maintaining a keen sense of balance and contemplation. THE tableau thus earns its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
See the work at the museum →Earth and history · 041-060
Paint what remains beneath the landscape
Hwang Yong-yop
Composition without dialogue
"Composition without dialogue" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Hwang Yong-yop brings the human figure back to essential signs, such as a fragile memory inscribed in matter. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Hwang Yong-yop
Life story
"Life story" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Hwang Yong-yop brings the human figure back to essential signs, such as a fragile memory inscribed in the material. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kwon Soon-cheol
Mount Yongma
In "Mount Yongma", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Kwon Soon-cheol gives the face and landscape an expressive harshness that refuses any embellishment easy. The gaze flows between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kwon Soon-cheol
Face
The figure of "Face" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by pose, framing and the density of color. Kwon Soon-cheol gives the face and landscape an expressive harshness that refuses any embellishment easy. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kwon Soon-cheol
Soul
The figure of "Soul" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by pose, framing and the density of color. Kwon Soon-cheol gives the face and landscape an expressive harshness that refuses any embellishment easy. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a strength that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Suh Yong-sun
Forest
In "Forest", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Suh Yong-sun uses taut contours and bold colors to condense the relationships between bodies, city and history. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Suh Yong-sun
The Walkers
The figure of "The Walkers" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Suh Yong-sun uses taut contours and bold colors to condense them relationships between body, city and history. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Min Joung-ki
Statue
"Statue" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Min Joung-ki rereads the Korean landscape through its roads, maps and historical layers, far from any vision picturesque. The painting thus earns its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Min Joung-ki
Nostalgia
"Nostalgia" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Min Joung-ki rereads the Korean landscape through its roads, maps and historical layers, far from any vision picturesque. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Min Joung-ki
The Quai d'Imjin-ri
"The Quai d'Imjin-ri" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. Min Joung-ki rereads the Korean landscape through its roads, maps and historical layers, far from any picturesque vision. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Shin Hak-chul
Modern History of Korea 9
"Modern History of Korea 9" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Shin Hak-chul builds modern history like a clash of images, bodies and popular symbols. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Shin Hak-chul
Modern History of Korea 5
"Modern History of Korea 5" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Shin Hak-chul builds modern history like a clash of images, bodies and popular symbols. The painting thus earns its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Shin Hak-chul
Kim Ji-ha
"Kim Ji-ha" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Shin Hak-chul builds modern history as a clash of popular images, bodies and symbols. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Shin Hak-chul
Even when this body dies
The figure of "Even when this body dies" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Shin Hak-chul builds modern history like a clash of images, bodies and popular symbols. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lim Ok-blood
Self-portrait
The figure of "Self-portrait" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Lim Ok-sang engages painting in the social present: land, work and political violence physical experiences become there. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction that is slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lim Ok-blood
Sewers
"Sewers" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Lim Ok-sang engages painting in the social present: land, work and political violence become physical experiences. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lim Ok-blood
Foot washing
"The Washing of the Feet" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Lim Ok-sang engages painting in the social present: earth, work and violence politics become physical experiences there. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Jung-heun
The Land I must plow
"The Earth that I must plow" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Kim Jung-heun contrasts humor and color with academic conventions, giving rural gestures critical vigor. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Jung-heun
The Land I Must Plow II
"The Earth that I must plow II" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Kim Jung-heun contrasts humor and color with academic conventions, giving rural gestures critical vigor. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Jung-heun
Table of the earth and plantains
"Table of the earth and plantains" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Kim Jung-heun contrasts humor and color with academic conventions, giving rural gestures critical vigor. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
See the work at the museum →Figures and fractures · 061-080
Reality under tension
Choi Min-hwa
Chestnut Park II
"Marronnier Park II" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Choi Min-hwa combines urban culture, personal mythology and colorful sensuality in a figuration deliberately direct. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Choi Min-hwa
Miss Shin
The figure of "Mademoiselle Shin" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Choi Min-hwa combines urban culture, personal mythology and colorful sensuality in one deliberately direct figuration. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Song Chang
Leisure grounds in Sagimakgol
"Leisure ground in Sagimakgol" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Song Chang paints the margins of the Korean division, where the landscape retains silent traces conflict. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Song Chang
The Highlands of unknown soldiers
"The Highlands of Unknown Soldiers" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Song Chang paints the margins of the Korean division, where the landscape preserves the silent traces of the conflict. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Song Chang
The Truce Line Road
"The Road to the Truce Line" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Song Chang paints the margins of Korean division, where the landscape preserves the silent traces of the conflict. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Hwang Jae-hyung
The Mining City Road
"The Mining City Route" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Hwang Jae-hyung restores mining life from an experience close to the field, with dark material and without heroization. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Hwang Jae-hyung
Mining city
"Mining city" makes the historical or social subject a tense pictorial material, where the symbol remains linked to the experience of bodies and places. Hwang Jae-hyung restores mining life from an experience close to the field, with a dark matter without heroization. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Hwang Jae-hyung
The Waterbringer
The figure of "The Water Carrier" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Hwang Jae-hyung recreates mining life from a near-field experience, with a dark matter without heroization. The painting thus earns its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Chung Moon-kyu
Woman 1
The figure of "Woman 1" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Chung Moon-kyu treats the figure as an isolated presence, energized by the void and the frontality. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Chung Moon-kyu
Eve 86-101
The figure of "Eve 86-101" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by the pose, framing and density of color. Chung Moon-kyu treats the figure as an isolated presence, energized by the void and the frontality. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Jung Kang-ja
Woman with laurel wreath
The figure of "Woman with the Laurel Crown" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by pose, framing and density of color. Jung Kang-ja extends the experimental spirit of the Korean avant-garde by metamorphic figures and spaces of freedom. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Jung Kang-ja
Janus falling into the jungle
The figure of "Janus falling into the jungle" is less a character to be identified than a presence constructed by pose, framing and color density. Jung Kang-ja extends the experimental spirit of the Korean avant-garde with metamorphic figures and spaces of freedom. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Suh Seung-won
Simultaneity 88-725
"Simultaneity 88-725" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and breaks: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Suh Seung-won constructs precise relationships between planes and colors, giving the word " simultaneity" a visual reality. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Seung-jio
Core 77
"Kernel 77" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and breaks: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Lee Seung-jio transforms the repetition of bands and cylinders into optical vibration, between machine and infinite space. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Seung-jio
Nucleus
"Nucleus" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and breaks: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Lee Seung-jio transforms the repetition of bands and cylinders into optical vibration, between machine and infinite space. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Guiline
Inside and outside
"Inside and outside" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Kim Guiline contrasts density and interval so that the monochrome surface reads like a threshold rather than as a background. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Guiline
Inside and outside
"Inside and outside" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Kim Guiline contrasts density and interval so that the monochrome surface reads like a threshold rather than as a background. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Yoon Jae-woo
In schoolyard
"In the schoolyard" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. Yoon Jae-woo maintains the readability of the site while simplifying its volumes and agreements seasonal. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Yoon Jae-woo
북한 만추
"북한 만추" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Yoon Jae-woo maintains the readability of the site while simplifying its volumes and seasonal agreements. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Yoon Jae-woo
Hyangwonjeong in autumn
"Hyangwonjeong in autumn" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Yoon Jae-woo maintains the readability of the site while simplifying its volumes and seasonal pairings. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
See the work at the museum →Plural landscapes · 081 -100
Mountains, cities and contemporary gestures
Oh Seung-woo
Tongdosa Temple
In "Tongdosa Temple", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Oh Seung-woo gives heritage and mountains a clear monumentality, carried by one strongly structured color. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a strength that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Oh Seung-woo
Late snow on the Dobongsan
In "Late Snows on the Dobongsan", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Oh Seung-woo gives heritage and mountains a clear monumentality, carried by a strongly structured color. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Oh Seung-woo
The Ten Symbols of Longevity 53
"The Ten Symbols of Longevity 53" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Oh Seung-woo gives heritage and mountains a clear monumentality, carried by a color strongly structured. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Park Kwang-jin
Sunflowers
In "Sunflowers", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Park Kwang-jin follows the transformations of the Korean landscape and the palaces of Seoul over several decades at the Jeju fields. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Park Kwang-jin
Hyangwonjeong Pavilion
In "Hyangwonjeong Pavilion", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Park Kwang-jin follows the transformations of the Korean landscape over several decades seoul Palace at the Jeju Fields. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a strength that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Park Kwang-jin
Rapeseed fields at Mount Sanbangsan
In "Rapeseed Fields at Mount Sanbangsan", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Park Kwang-jin follows the transformations of the landscape over several decades korean, from the palaces of Seoul to the fields of Jeju. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Choi Deok-hyu
Seoul Station
"Seoul Station" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. Choi Deok-hyu makes Seoul a historic landscape where ancient monuments rub shoulders with signs of a accelerated growth. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Choi Deok-hyu
Dongdaemun Gate
"Dongdaemun Gate" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. Choi Deok-hyu makes Seoul a historic landscape where ancient monuments rub shoulders with signs accelerated growth. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Choi Deok-hyu
Seoul from the headquarters of Korea Exchange Bank
"Seoul from the headquarters of the Korea Exchange Bank" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. Choi Deok-hyu makes Seoul a historic landscape where monuments elders rub shoulders with signs of accelerated growth. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a strength that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Chong-hak
Wild herbs
In "Wild Herbs", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Kim Chong-hak fills the canvas with vegetation and seasons, in a profusion that holds together observation and chromatic excess. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Kim Chong-hak
Winter
In "Winter", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Kim Chong-hak fills the canvas with vegetation and seasons, in a profusion that holds together observation and chromatic excess. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Oh Su-fan
God of the valley
"God of the valley" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Oh Su-fan brings out the painting of repeated gestures, silences and depths that do not emerge never solve in single image. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Oh Su-fan
Silence
"Silence" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Oh Su-fan brings out the painting of repeated gestures, silences and depths that cannot be resolved never in a single image. This tension between recognizable image and surface autonomy gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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His Sang-ki
Artificial city: red roof
"Artificial city: red roof" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. His Sang-ki looks at the city from its fractures, its roofs and its margins, with a tight and worried figuration. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Lee Kang-so
Untitled 95053
"Untitled 95053" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and breaks: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Lee Kang-so reduces shapes and signs to preserve the opening of the painting, as if the gesture continued beyond its limits. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Cho Yong-ik
Work 88 - 701
"Work 88 - 701" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and breaks: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Cho Yong-ik explores repetition and tiny variation, making each mark a measure of time passed in front of the canvas. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Bang Hai-ja
Untitled
"Untitled" is constructed by intervals, repetitions and ruptures: the surface becomes an active space rather than a neutral screen. Bang Hai-ja works with light as an interior material, diffused by colored layers of a great delicacy. This tension between recognizable image and autonomy of the surface gives it a force that goes beyond its immediate context.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Rim Dong-sik
Memories of summer 1981
"Memories of the Summer of 1981" concentrates its subject in a composition where shapes, materials and colors advance with the same intensity. Rim Dong-sik transforms the memory of an action in nature into a meditative image, attentive to time and at the disappearance. The work shows how Korean painting has transformed international languages without erasing its own visual memories.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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Ahn Chang-hong
Flowers and sausages
In "Flowers and Sausages", the natural pattern is ordered by color and rhythm rather than delivered as a simple transcription of the landscape. Ahn Chang-hong uses a clear and sometimes dissonant figuration to put them in crisis images of desire and consumption. The gaze circulates between detail and together, discovering a construction slower and more complex than it first appears.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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His Sang-ki
Flower of the city
"Flower of the city" captures an urban space in transformation, whose architecture becomes both a concrete landmark and a repository of memory. His Sang-ki looks at the city from its fractures, its roofs and its margins, with an figuration tight and worried. The painting thus gains its place in this journey by the way in which it makes visible a precise stage of Korean modernity.
Collection: Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA)
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