동아시아 미학을 통해 본 한국 근현대 회화 연구: 김환기, 유영국, 장욱진을 중심으로

Abstract

The aesthetic consciousness for nature is considered the most important throughout East Asian art and culture. Aesthetic consciousness and attitude originated from nature pursues spirituality through mental communion with a creator's inner world or object, and the formative method realized from this is expressed in simple formativeness transcending form, departing from detailed description and reality. This formative expression can be viewed as a return to its pure form and is exhibited at the last stage when the artist realizes sufficient skills or expression. This is the aesthetic concept most emphasized in East Asian aesthetics as the aesthetics of Nature, the aesthetics of Meaning and Boundary, and the aesthetics of the Stage of the Aged. In Korean modern and contemporary paintings, one aspect of orientalism was emphasized under the influence of the times and art trends. At that time, painters paid attention to the oriental view of nature, and they strongly expressed their will to preserve Korean and oriental identity in their paintings. Moreover, the painting realized through the creator’s original, unique perspective is focused on the meaning beyond the appearance of objects and is characterized by the expression of simple shapes that encapsulate the essence. This paper started from the recognition that the aesthetics of Nature in East Asia, of Meaning and Boundary, and of the Stage of the Aged are correlated with modern and contemporary Korean paintings. First, we identified the principles and characteristics of aesthetic conceptual words examined the speeches and thoughts of Kim Whanki (1913-1974), Yoo Youngkuk (1916-2002), and Chang Ucchin (1917-1990), who represent modern and contemporary Korean paintings, and analyzed their paintings. All their paintings have aesthetic consciousness based on nature, value the spirit away from the actual shape, and have a simple, fundamental formative structure and form of the paintings. In other words, the aesthetic characteristics of nature, Meaning and Boundary, and Stage of the Aged, which are the main concepts of East Asian aesthetics, appear in the speeches and conversations of the three artists. Such a discussion can be a key to understanding the philosophy, aesthetics of East Asia, as well as the thought, expression method, and formativeness of art creation. This study aims to identify the traits and characteristics of East Asian art and to promote an appropriate understanding and appreciation of Korean modern and contemporary paintings.