Kim Tschang-Yeul

titled and dated 1988 on the edge, framed

Private Collection
Shinwa Art Auction, Tokyo, 17 November, 2007, lot 246
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

This work is generally in good condition, with the impasto much stronger than it appears in the catalogues. Having examined the work under ultraviolet light, there appears to be no evidence of restoration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Vanishing Lines, Shifting Forms
Korean Abstraction From the fifties to eighties

In the mid-fifties, Korean ink painter Kim Ki-chang maintained, “The vogue of Abstract Art is becoming the goal of world trends; not only is this not time for us to sit deep in our ivory towers, but more than anyone else, now that our Eastern tradition of painting is fading, we must fall into pace with the times and progress.”¹ Although Kim was correct about the growing impact of Abstract Art on the world stage, it would perhaps not be unfair to say that he was only half correct about the fading importance of Eastern traditions. Within this sale are works by five Contemporary Korean Abstractionists, Rhee Seundja, Kim Whanki, Lee Ufan (Evening Sale), Chung Sang-Hwa, and Kim Tschang-Yeul, whose works deftly unite Eastern and Western ideals, without once compromising Tradition for Contemporaneity. Rather, these five artists build on tradition, engendering a uniquely new artistic language that is also quintessentially Korean.  

The world that emerged from World War II was many things: divided, derelict, defeated, deflated—but nonetheless, hopeful. In the West, the art which materialised in the wake of the war rejected previous notions of “Art”, opting for a clean slate. Art Informel in Europe, and its sister movement, Abstract Expressionism in North America, developed in the fifties out of the post-war need to deconstruct form; to somehow delineate a world which no longer fit into its old cast. Such is why Michel Tapié, in his book Un Art Autre (Art of another Kind) published in 1952, penned Art Informel’s name, which comes from the French “informe”, meaning formless, a word fit to also describe the foundations of Abstract Expressionism.  

On the other side of the world, Korea was undergoing drastic social and political changes after the Korean War in the fifties. Leaving behind them the figurative painting styles that were once the norm in Modern Korean paintings, many Contemporary Korean artists turned instead to Western paintings, which became readily available in Korea through Japan. In this respect, Korea and the West had many things in common. While the West sought a departure from realistic art as a means to relinquish conservatism and propagandist works that were produced before the war, Korea’s shift from such an art form was to renounce pre-war occupation ideals. Many Korean artists travelled to the West—especially to Paris and the United States—and all gradually developed unique takes on Abstraction. Many Korean artists were especially drawn to Geometrical Abstraction—the branch of Abstraction which brought the world artists such as Piet Mondrian and Barnett Newman, as opposed to the Expressionist branch which the West developed—perhaps in part due to its similarities to Eastern modes of painting.

It would appear that the West inspiring the East was not a single-sided phenomenon. During the fifties, a lot of Eastern avant-garde calligraphy had made its way to the West, and garnered great interest through its many exhibitions. Many Western artists were also deeply absorbed in Zen Buddhism and ideas of oneness, which can definitely be detected in the Abstract Expressionist works of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. These ideas of “oneness”, which are in line with the Eastern Calligraphic concept of the “one stroke method”, are also detectable in all the present artists’ works, all of whom have received classical training in calligraphy.  

Rhee Seundja was the first among all the Korean artists to travel to Paris, and left for Europe during the Korean War. Leaving behind her family, Rhee travelled alone to Paris in 1951, a single woman on a mission to forge her own path in a mostly-male art world. While studying in Paris under the tutelage of various mentors, such as the French-American painter Henri Goetz at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Rhee was exposed to many Western masters’ works, whose influences can clearly be seen in her earlier pieces. Rhee was nonetheless determined to build a style that was uniquely hers. At first glance, it would seem as if the artist’s works are but a simple reworking of the aforementioned Geometrical Abstraction, and yet, her meticulously rendered rectangles, triangles, and circles are more so a marriage of Eastern ideals of Yin and Yang, light and dark, life and death. The present sale offers three of her works, from an early forage into Abstraction, Rhône Valley No. 5 (Lot 764), as well as two highly representative and compositionally superb pieces from her “Woman and Earth” series, Red Earth (Lot 766) and Untitled (Lot 765). Respectively painted in 1961 and 1964, these two works represent the beginning and maturation of the “Woman and Earth” series, which began in 1961 and ended in 1968. 

The next artist to leave Korea was Kim Whanki, who arrived in Paris in 1956. The lots on offer are brilliant examples of the artist’s evolving style. While the extremely rare Immortal Crane and Vase (Lot 762) painted in the fifties, while Kim was still in Paris, is stylistically reminiscent of the more traditional Korean Modernist styles, it already hints at the Abstraction that Kim would become known for, such as can be seen in the work Untitled (Lot 763), painted in 1970. Within Immortal Crane and Vase are archetypal symbols that can be found in Kim’s oeuvre, in particular the white vase, or moon jar (dal-hangari). To Kim, “all things I paint are inspired by white porcelain, including colour.”² This comment is highly suggestive of a later contemporary Korean movement, Tansaekhwa, or Monochrome Painting, where a single colour becomes the starting point for meditative pieces. Combined with the minimalist curving lines of the branches and distant hills in Immortal Crane and Vase, one can definitely feel the emergence of the arcs later to be found in Untitled. Heavily hypnotic, the present work is compositionally interesting, imbued with serenity. The apex of the downturned triangle is aligned perfectly with the centre of the concave dip of the triangular shape poised below it, creating an overall feeling of precision and unity. With pink speckles peeking through the web of the tiled background, Untitled is an enchanting and stellar example of Korean Abstract art. 

More than a decade after the first departure to Paris by Rhee, Chung Sang-Hwa moved to Paris in 1967. Meditative, monochromatic and motionless, Chung’s works are as striking as they are simple. Seemingly unassuming from afar, it is only upon closer inspection that one appreciates the meticulous, almost sculptural details of the current work on offer, Untitled (Lot 768) painted in 1988. Such detail is achieved through coating and peeling off chips of paint. Chung covers his canvases with clay, scoring them with grids and excavating each small square, before filling them individually with paint. This “coat and peel” process creates the illusion that each square is framed by grooves, which is produced with an almost religious dexterity until the entire canvas is covered.  It is this constant pursuit of self-discovery that renders Chung’s work unique and engaging to the viewer. This repetitive, labour intensive manner with which the current lot is executed is a key feature of Korean Abstraction art.

Kim Tschang-Yeul was the last of the presented group to leave home. Moving to Paris in 1969, Kim is known for the creation of the Hyeondae Misulga Hyeophoe (Contemporary Artists Association) in the fifties, and his paintings of translucent water drops first emerged in 1972. The current work on offer, J-T-T8112 (Lot 767), belongs to this series of trompe-l’œil oil paintings. The plainness of the canvas is starkly contrasted by the crystalline water drops, which reveal Kim’s masterly skills in transforming thick viscous oil paint into clear beads of glowing water. Like Chung and Lee, Kim stresses repetition in his work, covering his canvas with ethereal water droplets. Seemingly similar, each droplet is actually unique, further highlighting the idea of variation through repetition. The spiritual element of the group’s art can also be seen in the water portrayed, for water is directly linked to Buddhist notions of ritualistic purification. In this way, Kim melds the Western techniques of oil painting with the Eastern belief in natural elements, showing once again the group’s tendency to marry their Western training with their Eastern heritage.

Spanning almost two decades, this first generation of Korean abstract artists revolutionised the art world both in Korea and in Asia, as well as beyond it, in the West. True to their heritage, their Eastern beliefs played a fundamental role in their art, while their sojourns in the West too influenced their work significantly. In great part due to the distance they gained during their time spent in the West, these artists could fully meditate on their Eastern roots, producing culturally relevant and strong pieces. It is thus this melding of East and West that distinguishes this group from other movements of the same period. Following the minimalist trend of the time, the works on offer chart the evolution of styles within the group. From Rhee’s meticulous geometrical details, to Lee’s powerful vertical dashes, to Chung’s monochromatic sculptural squares, one sees the stress on infinity and the passage of time. Represented in different ways, the artists each capture a moving depiction of eternity—through vanishing lines and shifting forms, they have portrayed something far more lasting: Infinity.

1 Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, Youngna Kim (USA: The Korea Foundation, 2005), p.26

2 The Centennial Celebration of Kim Whanki’s Birth II: Whanki, Chant for Eternity, Whanki Museum, 2013, p.43