Wife of late Lee Ungno holds painting demonstration in Korea

The wife of late renowned abstract artist Lee Ungno, whose works are a unique combination of traditional Korean brushstrokes and modernity, will hold demonstration sessions of Lee’s unique calligraphy and painting style in Korea.

Park In-kyeong, who teaches Oriental painting and drawing at the Oriental Painting Academy of Musee Cernuschi in Paris and her atelier in suburban Paris with the couple’s son, will hold two sessions demonstrating the Oriental painting style of Lee on April 26 and 30 at Lee Ungno Museum in Daejeon. The Oriental Painting Academy was founded by Lee in 1964. 

“They will be valuable sessions that can help people understand the artistic world of Lee Ungno and his style. Park In-kyeong, who also serves as the honorary director of the museum, will be sure to promote Lee’s art world to many people,” said Lee Ji-ho, chairman of the Daejeon Goam Foundation of Culture and the Arts.

“They will also lay the foundation for opening another Oriental painting class at Lee Ungno Museum in Daejeon,” she said.

Park has produced more than 3,000 students at the academy and influenced abstract art in Europe.

One of Lee’ students is Andre Kneib, a calligrapher and counselor at the Written Foundation in Germany, who visited Seoul earlier in April for the opening of an exhibition featuring collections from the foundation.

“I will never forget the feeling that passed from his hand to my hand when he was holding my hand in the back and guiding each stroke,” said Kneib during the visit. 

Calligraphy has been the essence of Eastern and Middle Eastern art and an inspiration to Western artists in abstract expression.

Lee Ungno, born in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, in 1904, used diverse mediums such as painting, calligraphy, ceramic art and sculpture. He became famous in the Korean art circle after winning an award at the Joseon Art Exhibition in 1924.

During the Japanese colonial rule, he established an artist group called “Dan-gu Art Association” in an attempt to break away from the Japanese influence on Korean art. 

In 1956, Lee was invited to hold an exhibition in Paris by Jacques Lassaigne, the director of the French office of the World Art Critic Association. After the exhibition, he decided to settle down in Paris and signed a contract with Galerie Facchetti, an avant-garde gallery that led the “Informel” movement at the time.

He developed abstract art style based on his Korean calligraphy and Oriental painting techniques in his “Abstract Letter.”

Lee is remembered as a passionate artist who inspired many Korean artists studying in Paris at the time.

“I miss him very much. He was very passionate not only exploring different medium in his art practice but also in teaching Korean artists,” said Jeon Byung-hyun, a mid-career artist who studied in Paris in the 1980s, during a group exhibition at Gana Art Gallery last week.

For more information about the demonstration sessions, call (042) 611-9805.

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