兮谷 최순우 선생의 불화·불상 연구

Abstract

Hyegok, Choi Sun‐wu entered into art history as a position of Chamsa at the National Gaeseong Museum in 1946 when he was 30 years old. After being transferred to the National Museum of Korea in 1948, he was the director of the National Museum of Korea for ten years from 1974 to 1984 after passing through the supply department director, art director, curator, and chief curator. He was interested in ceramic history and general art history in the Korean art history. However, he expressed great interest in Buddhist paintings and Buddhist sculptures by making steady presentations through journals, reports and newspapers. In the Buddhist study, which is not the main field of his study, he shows not only the aesthetic expression but also the insight in grasping the background of the composition purpose, importance of composition of Buddhist paintings, and style analysis. Also, in the case of studies of Buddhist paintings, both sides of his can be found by the feature description of each image based on outstanding insights and discernment in addition to academic analysis such as formality and style characterization of the image. As can seen from a rough look at his research, this study is meaningful in that while he focuses on depiction based on his aesthetics and aesthetic awareness obtained through his eye for the beautiful and experience, at the same time, it is confirmed that his academic approach based on high level of insight is also inseparable and shows deep results.