A figure sits cross-legged in meditation, his face serene. The backgrounds vary, but none disturb his tranquility. He appears as one who has transcended worldly cares and withdrawn into his own world — a state that might be called enlightenment. The artist said this figure is both himself and a reflection of all of us. Traces of time are visible in the figure on the canvas. Once upright, he gradually goes bald and his body grows simpler as the years pass.
A retrospective of the late Kim Sang-yu (1926-2002), titled "A Person Not Easily Worn Down," is underway at Seokparjeong Seoul Museum in Buam-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Marking the 100th anniversary of his birth, the exhibition revisits the artistic world of an artist who poured his soul into etchings, woodcuts and oil paintings. "In an age that seeks the extreme and the provocative, visitors will encounter the aesthetic of 'harmlessness,'" the museum said.
The artist dreamed of becoming a painter from childhood, but during the harsh days of the Korean War, such a dream was beyond reach. After graduating from the philosophy department of Yonhi College (now Yonsei University) and working as a teacher, he came across a feature article on etchings in an American magazine in 1963, on the verge of turning 40. The article reawakened a dream he had long forgotten. The urgent feeling that "this cannot be the end" led him onto the path of art.
At the time, there were no etching presses in Korea, and no one to teach him. He dismantled a discarded noodle-making machine and built his own printing press. He obtained nitric acid to etch the plates and developed his own techniques by corroding zinc plates. The toxic gas produced during the etching process took a serious toll on his health. Yet years of experimentation and research were rewarded when he won the grand prize at the first Seoul International Print Biennale in 1970.
After developing glaucoma from his copperplate work, the artist switched to woodblocks, where he built a simpler and more rustic texture. Even so, his deteriorating eyesight and physical pain continued, and he eventually put down the knife and picked up the brush. In his oil paintings, he applied a distinctive technique of filling the canvas with color and then wiping it with cloth, achieving the texture of an Eastern watercolor despite using oil. He won the second Lee Jung-seop Art Award in 1990.
A common thread in his oil paintings is the simple colors and planes, and the restrained lines. At the center, the "meditating figure" always appears. The figure sitting cross-legged on the canvas is essentially the artist himself. Intriguingly, the figure in the paintings ages along with the passage of time. The artist honestly transferred his aging self onto the canvas. According to the museum, this represents his philosophy that art was life, and life was meditation.
The more he devoted himself to his work, the more he distanced himself from the mainstream art world. That is why his name is less known to the public. Instead, he traveled across the country in search of Korea's traditional architecture and artifacts. Passing through historic lands, he encountered old houses, pavilions and aged landscapes — and brought them back to life in his paintings. The "Daesanru" series is one such example. In 2022, the work gained wider attention after RM, the leader of BTS, revealed on social media that he had purchased one of the works from the "Daesanru" series.
The exhibition presents about 150 of his works across the entire first floor of Seokparjeong Seoul Museum, a space of about 800 pyeong (roughly 2,640 square meters). It traces his career chronologically — from his early etchings of the 1960s, to woodblock prints made while traveling to traditional houses and pavilions across the country in pursuit of Korean beauty, to oil paintings embodying "wuwei ziran" (nature in its untouched state) from the 1980s onward. Alongside the works, his art tools, personal belongings, exhibition catalogues and newspaper articles from his lifetime are on display. The making processes of etchings and woodcuts are also presented, offering visitors an educational experience. Two works from the "Daesanru" series, made famous by RM's collection, are also on view. "RM visited just after the opening, on crutches, and viewed the works carefully," the museum said.
Such a large-scale exhibition was made possible by the deep love for art of Ahn Byung-kwang, chairman of Union Pharmaceutical and founder of the Seoul Museum. Ahn was captivated after seeing Kim Sang-yu's solo exhibition at Gallery Hyundai in January 2002 and reportedly bought nearly all the works on display at the time. That exhibition turned out to be the artist's last solo show during his lifetime; he passed away in March of the same year. About 100 of the roughly 150 works in the current exhibition are from Ahn's collection. The exhibition runs through August 17.
