이인성의 동양화와 그 시대성

Abstract

Genius painter In-sung Lee(1912~1950) representing the modern times of the Republic of Korea is famous as a typical Western painter. But he was a talented painter who also drew various types of Oriental paintings including the four gentleman plants, hahuihua(Oriental painting portraiting flowers and grasses), Oriental landscape paintings, and portraits. There are currently 30 Oriental paintings and most of his landscape paintings were painted according to traditional composition and brush strokes while his paintings of the four gentleman plants, huahuehua and portraits are rather flat and completed with sensible brush strokes and Indian ink providing a feel of a “Western water painting drawn with Indian ink”. Such plasticity is proof that he focused more on the management of Indian ink and the visual image of the drawn objects instead of their mentality or ideology inherent in traditional Oriental paintings. They all have the common characteristics of being figures with clear body curves with slightly bowing heads, relatively emphasized shoulders, and slim waists. The paintings may be categorized into portraits of women carrying a water jar on their head or a baby and women enjoying entertainment under a willow. Lee's Oriental paintings embody the multifaceted representations of Korean modern art. His Western paintings composed mostly of water and oil paintings are official visual objects intentionally painted to make a living and maintain his status and fame by submitting them to exhibitions. On the other hand, his Oriental paintings completed with writing brushes and ink sticks are privately owned paintings freely “drawn” based on his talent and natural experiences in his surroundings without being conscious of a specific purpose or audience. That is, if Lee's Western paintings were produced under strict planning and are “norms” expressing the trends of the times, Oriental paintings are vernacular modernism naturally expressing the tradition and customs he learned during his growth and that of his mental world. For his Oriental paintings, Lee selected traditional and earthy materials as his subjects and endowed them with classical images to naturally express the vernacular identity of modern Korea.