Park Soo Keun (朴壽根 Pak Sugŭn, 1914-1965) was a modern artist active in Korea from the later Japanese colonial period of the early 1930s to the mid- 1960s. Despite the poverty and adversity it caused him, Park persisted in producing paintings of ordinary people, including the poor, that he observed in his everyday life. His use of local color and the distinctive textures of his multilayered oil pigments led to his posthumous recognition by Korean critics and American art collectors as one of the most “Korean” artists. Park’s paintings often present women as the main subjects. His interest in the rediscovery and restoration of Sin Saimdang 申師任堂 (1504-1551), who emerged in the 1960s as a significant female icon with the traits of a wise mother, talented artist, and learned noblewoman, is epitomized in his visual depiction of female figures. Park’s silent, serious representations of Korean mothers, symbolizing suffering and self-sacrifice for the sake of the country’s next generation, evoke nationalistic sentiments, admiration, memories, and nostalgia. Through investigating the construction and representation of such a Korean female identity in the social and cultural context of Park’s time, this study elucidates the current enthusiastic reception of Park’s paintings in Korea and the growing international recognition of a distinctive Korean style in studies of modern Korean art.
목차
Abstract Introduction Sin Saimdang: Images of Korean Motherhood Marginal Local Color under Japanese Colonialism Global Presentations of Korean Women Posthumous Memories of Park Soo Keun References
키워드
Park Soo Keunmodern Korean artlocal colorSin Saimdangmotherhood
저자
Jungsil Jenny LEE [ An adjunct assistant professor of Asian Studies at the University of Cincinnati. ]
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.