Each painting tells a story

Art exhibition commemorates the 100th birthday of Korea’s beloved poet Baek Seok


Paintings inspired by Korea’s beloved poet Baek Seok will be on display at Tong-In Auction Gallery in Seoul, which will open with a poetry reading on Thursday.

The exhibition, organized by The Daesan Foundation and Tong-In Auction Gallery, will feature 33 paintings by 10 of Korea’s well-known painters including Kim Duk-ki, Lee In, Kim Sun-doo and Oh Won-bae to commemorate the 100th birthday of the poet Baek Seok (1912-1973).

“Baek Seok’s poetry transcends time and space. And they are easy to read. These two factors make his work some of the best poetry written in the history of modern Korean literature,” said Kwak Hyo-hwan, director-general of the foundation. 

The exhibition is part of the art-meets-literature exhibition series started in 2006 to commemorate novelists and poets’ 100th birthdays.

Paintings of the exhibition intensify the poetic imagery, helping viewers better understand Baek’s works and sentiment.

“When art meets literature, the feeling about poems gets intensified,” said Lee Gye-sun, managing director of Tong-In Auction Gallery.

“The painters depict not only the images and forms that appear outside, but stories based on the lives of the ordinary people, local food, regional customs and sentiment of his hometown,” Lee added.

As Baek was a poet looking for love and ideals that were free from influences from the Japanese rule and ideological divide between the South and North Korea. His works still resonate with today’s readers and appeal to the painters who had to choose their favorites before they began drawing.

The most popular work selected by multiple painters was “Me, Natasha and a White Donkey,” the representative work of Baek about his love story with a female entertainer named Jaya, according to Lee.

Oh Won-bae presented his reinterpretation of the poem with abstract figures and understated colors.

Baek’s “There is a White Wind Wall” also inspired two artists who insisted on drawing on the work and presenting their own interpretations.

Choi Suk-un portrayed Baek Seok in the scene, sitting alone in a small room.

Meanwhile, Hwang Julie showed a more modern interpretation featuring wine glasses and a man and a woman kissing.

The painters said Baek’s works gave new inspiration and imagination.

“As I imagined the background of the poem, I was able to picture the scenes. I feel passionate and delighted whenever I draw something about literary works,” said Choi Suk-un, who drew three paintings including “Despair,” “Tongyoung” and “There is a White Wind Wall.”

The exhibition “Because Poor Me Has Fallen in Love with Beautiful Natasha,” runs from Sept. 6-18 at Tong-In Auction Gallery and from Oct. 6-7 at Hangang Seonyudo Park.

For more information, call (02) 721-3203.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)