T he exquisite Flight by Kim Whanki hovers in the divine liminal space between figuration and abstraction: in it we witness the great Korean master poised to “take flight” in his seminal lifelong artistic journey towards pure geometric abstraction. The pair of graceful cranes, a traditional symbol of longevity and loyalty and a common trope in Eastern artworks as well as Kim’s pre-1960s figurative works, is rendered in elegantly pared down oblong biomorphic shapes; while the entire landscape is executed in a uniquely flattened perspective that reveals the artist’s emergent abstraction tendencies. Most importantly, the blue and purple dotted line that frames the top border of the canvas is one of Kim’s most recognizable patterns, constituting an extraordinary predecessor to the artist’s later iconic dot paintings.

Arguably the most prominent figure among the first generation of Korean Abstract artists, Kim Whanki shaped a distinctive style of his own by fusing Eastern sensitivity and Western modernism. His early student works in the 1930s already displayed a semi-abstract tendency while still revealing traces of identifiable forms and figurative elements; during this time, the artist was fascinated by the work of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, as well as the art of Japanese masters Tsuguharu Foujita and Seiji Togo, who brought new waves of Cubism and Futurism to Asia. Between 1956 and 1959, Kim Whanki worked in Paris, continuing to explore various classical Korean motifs and landscapes while simplifying them with thick outlines and vibrant abstraction. Flight embodies precisely the concise expression of elements of a narrative scene using stylized lines and shapes: the contoured organic forms suggest two birds soaring across a seascape, whilst the flat expanses of blue and turquoise, reminiscent of the colour field paintings of Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, conceivably portray the shadows and reflection of the moon and skylight cast onto the sea.

Executed in the 1950s, the present Flight is situated within a critical transition period before Kim Whanki diluted his pigments for his New York period works (1963 onwards), which displayed thinner sheens of paint. The painting’s gentle hues and tenderly alluring forms exude a timeless sophistication reminiscent of the delicate patterns in oriental ceramics, while the work’s surface texture itself emanates a divine porcelain-esque quality. A dealer once commented that Kim’s paintings were “beautiful, full of poetic and mysterious sentiments” with surfaces that “reminded him with the skin of ceramic” (Kim Hyang-an, “Pusan Period: 1951-1953”, p. 133); while the master himself said: “all things I paint are inspired by white porcelain, including color”. A great lover of ceramic jars and vases, Kim was an avid collector. His wife once said: “From 1944 to 1950, almost every evening, he brought home at least one jar or wooden ware…To Whanki the jars are living, breathing creatures”. Such objects appear in vast numbers in pages upon pages of Kim’s sketchbook, under the title “Sketches of Immortal Things”.

At once distinctly representative of Kim’s much-coveted figurative paintings, and formally prophetic of Kim’s later artistic developments, the current work constitutes an extraordinary transitional work embodying the core essences of Kim Whanki’s extraordinary oeuvre. The tranquil moonlit evening comes to life only with the simple colors of blue, green, purple and white, epitomizing and foretelling the minimalist monochrome aesthetic of Korean Dansaekhwa. Kim’s later monochrome dot paintings received phenomenal international acclaim; throughout his career, however, Kim placed great importance in preserving and nourishing his Korean identity. The artist once said: “I can’t seem to separate my art from Seoul… I like the work I’ll be painting from now on. Simple composition, the subtle color of blue—only I can create my world” (Oh Kwang-su, Kim Whanki: A Critical Biography, Youl Hwa Dang, Korea, 1998, p. 97).

《飛行》遊走於具象與抽象之間的神聖境界，見證韓國藝術大師金煥基的創作風格的初創轉變，向純粹幾何抽象藝術展翅翱翔。傳統上，白鶴象徵長壽與忠貞，它們不僅是東方藝術作品的常見主題，亦是金氏1960年代前的具象作品的重要題材。畫中一雙優美的白鶴以不規則的長形圖案組成，簡潔而不失優雅，背景的處理則體現了藝術家獨特的平面視角，亦印證藝術家風格走向抽象的開端。畫面最上方可見一條藍綠色與紫紅色相間的虛線，它是金煥基最具代表性的藝術語彙，為他後來的經典點畫作品奠下卓越基礎。

金煥基糅合東方藝術觸覺與西方現代主義，創出獨一無二的藝術風格，堪稱第一代最具代表性的韓國抽象藝術家。早在1930年代的學生時期作品上，雖然仍然隱約可見具象元素和可識別的圖像，但金煥基已流露出半抽象的創作傾向，當時，金氏著迷於亨利・馬蒂斯與巴布羅・畢加索的作品，亦受日本藝壇大師藤田嗣治與東鄉青兒的創作所啟迪；此兩位日本藝術家正正把立體派與未來主義的新浪潮引進亞洲。1956至1959年，金煥基長駐巴黎作畫，潛心嘗試韓國傳統繪畫主題與風景畫作，以厚重的線條和富有動感的抽象的手法將主體簡化，重新演繹。《飛翔》正正展示了一個以非寫實的線條和圖案等簡單元素構建的敘事場景——畫中輪廓分明的生物形態，代表一雙在海面上滑翔的白鶴；後方的大片藍綠色塊，尤如月光與蒼穹投射在海面上的光影，其平面處理手法令人聯想起馬克・羅斯科與巴奈特・紐曼的畫作。

《飛行》創作於1950年代，時值金煥基創作生涯的關鍵轉捩階段。並開啟了金氏往後在紐約時期（1963年起）的薄塗創作手法。本作品色調柔和、形態細膩動人，散發出一種永恒雋永的精緻感，猶如東方瓷器上的精美紋飾。畫面肌理通透並具有質感，超凡脫俗。一位藝術經紀曾提到，金煥基的作品「美麗動人、極富詩意，當中不乏耐人尋味的情愫」，畫面的質感更「令他想起瓷器的器身」（Kim Hyang-an著，《釜山時期：1951-1953年》，頁133）。金煥基本人亦曾言：「我所有的作品都以白瓷為靈感，畫面的用色亦然」。談及金煥基對瓷瓶和瓷罐的濃厚興趣，他的妻子曾說：「從1944至1950年間，他幾乎每晚都至少帶一件瓷瓶或木製品回家……對煥基來說，這些瓶瓶罐罐都是會呼吸，有生命力的器物」。金煥基的素描簿上經常可見這些瓷器的身影，他更為畫簿命名為《不朽之物速記》（Sketches of Immortal Things）。

本作不僅是金煥基備受青睞的具象代表作，更啟發了他後來的創作發展，除了是這段風格過渡期的超凡傑作，亦匯聚了金氏一生創作精髓。他以藍色、綠色、紫色和白色等簡單配色，將月夜的空靈活現紙上，展現出韓國單色畫派的極簡美學。金煥基在藝術生涯後期創出的單色點畫贏盡國際讚譽，縱觀他的創作歷程，金氏一直努力捍衛和宣揚他的韓國人身份。他曾說：「我的創作與首爾密不可分……我很喜歡我未來的作畫方向。簡單的構圖、優雅細膩的藍調 - 我要一手開拓我的世界」。（吳光洙，《金煥基評傳》，Youl Hwa Dang 出版社，韓國，1998年，頁97）。