Translated from:
The artist behind Universe (우주), sold at Christies in Hong Kong for $13 Million USD, and coming in at 9th place on the domestic art market’s TOP 10 works — artist Kim Whanki (김환기) is a name all familiar to us.
Although his art has always been associated with numbers, Kim’s art and extraordinary life deserves to be explored beyond monetary value!
Korean Abstraction Abroad
While early Korean painters focused their subjects on scenery and people, Kim began pioneering the art of Korean abstract painting. This was largely due to his time spent in other cities aboard, such as, Tokyo (1930s), Paris (1950s), and New York (1960s-70s).
Although the idea of experiencing foreign countries sounded grand for artists, it was a lonely journey for Kim. And his longing for his motherland led him to develop an artistic style that is geared towards Korean abstraction.
Moon Jars and Plums
White porcelain moon jars and plum blossoms became Kim Whanki’s most painted subjects. Even outside of his artistic practices, Kim developed a deep admiration towards the moon shaped jars. Although they appear quite bland at first sight, their neat structure is one that is rare to find in other countries.
Even during war times when the nation was seeking refuge and was short of money, Kim admits to hiding his collection of jars in a well before escaping North Korea’s attack. Perhaps this goes to show his level of devotion towards the jars.
“Our (Korean) jars opened my scope on aesthetic quality and Korean people, which can be said that the textbook I used were these jars.” — Kim Whanki
The Colour of Home, Whanki-blue
Artist Kim Whanki incorporated so much blue in his works that the word “Whanki-blue” became a popular term in Korea. For him, the colour blue was reminiscent of his motherland. He was born on an island village surrounded by water and the clear blue sky.
During a private exhibition in Paris, when asked what the country of Korea is like, he responded:
“Korea is surrounded by water on all its three sides. The colour of the East Sea is so blue that once you dip a white handkerchief in it, it’ll come out blue.”
Korea’s Picasso. Korea’s Mark Rothko.
His nicknames already indicate the degree of difficulty and abstraction in his works. Once you take a closer look at the canvas, the black dots within each square become more alive, almost pulsating.
As living abroad brought more and more hardships for Kim throughout the years, he began painting each dot as an ode to his longing for Korea.
Relationship With Hyang-an Kim (변동림)
One cannot write about Kim without writing about his lover, Hyang-an Kim (born Dong-Lim Byun). She was once married to the famous author of modern Korean literature, Yi Sang. Their marriage came to an end shortly after due to Yi’s passing, leaving Byun with their three daughters.
Subsequent to meeting Kim Whanki, they marry despite their family’s disapproval and she legally changes her name from Dong-Lim Byun to Hyang-an Kim (Kim Whanki’s childhood name).
Kim didn’t speak a word of French when he left for Paris to hold his first private exhibition, but with the encouragement of his wife he was successfully able to do so. Along with this, Kim’s wife was the backbone of establishing the Whanki Foundation and Museum. Further, the Whanki Museum, dedicated to Kim, was Korea’s first ever private museum to open thanks to his soulmate.
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Opening up art investment for all, ARTBLOC enables micro-art investment by tokenizing the fractionalized ownership of masterpieces. ARTBLOC serves as a community for sharing art world information and critiques as well as a platform for art investment. ARTBLOC aims to drive the growth of the art market in general and support the artists, ultimately bringing art to our everyday lives.
