한국 근대기 ‘나체화’의 성취와 한계― 제작, 전시, 검열의 구조적 고찰

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to focus on nude paintings in Modern Period of Korea and take a comprehensive view at the model, painter, public display of the nude paintings, and the regulations of censorship in an attempt to understand modern nude paintings in new ways. First, this study analyzes the painting and display of nude paintings centered on Joseon Arts Exhibition; the Joseon Arts Exhibition shows the trajectory of the nude painting as a genre being established in Korean Art. Thus, an attempt for comprehensive study was made, utilizing piece which won the prize in Joseon Arts Exhibition, present nude paintings, graduation works of Tokyo Art School, newspaper materials in modern period, etc., and even the works of Japanese Painters in Korea who showed their nude paintings at Joseon Arts Exhibition and modern Korean Art circles. Furthermore, the conditions of nude models and their paintings, display and censorship, along with analysis of the nude paintings, were considered. Thus, circumstances then were considered meticulously, focusing on the nude models, and the image of models which the painters believed were ideal were identified. Although the social awareness of nude painting had continuously expanded, there were also those who were observed to discuss nude paintings in private area, focusing on the romance between male painter and female model. Furthermore, paintings with nudity, photography of nude painting, and photography of nudity were not distinguished but were all called “nude painting” and the boundary between art and pornography was blurry. This study also focuses how the powers of censorship such as prohibition of photography, special display, and withdrawal of art piece worked in the process of display; also, it empirically looks at how the standard of offense against public morals was applied to actual works. Subjective and ambiguous standards existed, such as model’s pose, expression of pubic hair, and where the model’s gaze is directed. Thus, sensual representation of the body and manifestation of the beauty of the nude were not permitted in modern nude paintings, painted under the premises of display and disclosure of works; here existed the dilemma in making of nude paintings.