It’s settled. Modern art master’s name in English is Lee Jung-seop

The sole public museum dedicated to Korea’s modern artist Lee Jung-seop has decided to adopt “Lee Jung-seop” as the artist’s official name in English.

This means the museum, located on Jeju Island, will change its current name -- Lee Jung-seob Gallery -- to one using the current romanization.

For decades, various organizations and exhibitions have used many different romanizations of Lee’s name.

“We have long recognized the need to decide on the English name as the artist is widely known at home and abroad as a representative modern artist of Korea. We reached the decision (to use Lee Jung-seop) at a committee meeting,” a museum official told The Korea Herald.

The museum will send out official letters to other art entities, asking them to adopt Lee Jung-seop as the standard romanization for the artist’s name.

Born in 1916, Lee’s best-known work is the “White Ox,” completed in 1954, which depicts a bull with powerful brush-touches. Lee died in 1956 in Seoul from hepatitis.

Lee’s name was romanized for the first time as Lee Choong-sup in the English-language brochure issued for an exhibition of his works at Mitopa Gallery in Seoul in 1955.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)