LEEUNGNO MUSEUM
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Past Exhibitions

푸른눈의 수묵 - 이응노와 프랑스 제자들

 

In 1964, Lee Ungno began teaching courses in Paris on calligraphy and ink-and-wash painting with the support of Vadime Elisseeff, then-director of Musée Cernuschi. Lee’s accomplishments as an educator during his Paris years are, however, relatively unknown in relation to their value. As such, this exhibition focuses on reenacting the historical backdrop of Lee’s teaching—France in the 1960s and 1970s—through photographs and newspaper articles on his courses (in 2015, the Lee Ungno Museum spotlighted Lee’s activities as an instructor of Eastern painting in France through “École de Lee Ungno: Académie de Peinture Orientale de Paris”).

 

“India Ink with Blue Eyes,” which began from one question (How did Lee’s role in the Académie de Peinture Orientale de Paris affect the French art community?), explores the role and significance of the Académie de Peinture Orientale de Paris through the creations of 11 French students who studied under Lee and his wife, Park Inkyung. After Lee’s death, teaching continued through his students as well as Park and the couple’s son, Lee Young-sé. Everyone featured in this exhibition (Jacki & Martine Perrin, Christine Dadadie-Fabreguettes, Claire Kito, Elisabeth Burgun, Florence Schrobiltgen, Françoise George Ploteau, Ines Egelnick, Jean Villeroux, Noëlle Samé, Sybille Friedel, and Virginie Cadart Travadel) studied calligraphy and ink-and-wash painting at Académie de Peinture Orientale de Paris and are currently artists/educators in their own right.

 

Lee taught locals how to use inkstone and brush at a time of burgeoning intersections between Eastern and Western art in France. Given the absence of institutions that taught Eastern art, the fact that one could learn such things at all in Paris was itself noteworthy, described as “revolutionary” by esteemed French art historian Danielle Elisseeff. According to a January 31, 1964 article in Tribune de Lausanne, “Students have finished registering [for Lee’s course], with the first class scheduled for February. The course is endorsed not only by Asian painters currently based in France, such as Tsuguharu Foujita and Zao Wouki, but also European artists such as Pierre Soulages and Hans Hartung.” The diversity of nationality of the school’s sponsors—French, Chinese, Japanese—suggests a causality between the school’s founding and the wide-scale experimentation being done in Paris on abstract art. Western artists were using inspiration from Eastern art to broaden the territory of abstract art. Asian artists in Europe, for their part, were using their cultural identities to give rise to a new genre of modernist painting.

 

Within this cultural environment, Lee’s art courses served as a crossroad for Eastern and Western art. They began with proper holding of a brush and were tailored to students’ skill level, ranging from beginner to advanced. Lee also frequently hosted exhibitions of student artworks. Every summer, he and his students would go to the mountains or the ocean to learn how to depict nature with a brush and India ink (in 2009, a summer training program was held in Daejeon for the 20th anniversary of Lee’s death.). In 2013, two former students, Christine Dadadie-Fabreguettes and Claire Kito, commemorated their teacher by publishing Dialogues de l’encre et du pinceau, an introductory textbook on Eastern painting. Over the years, Académie de Peinture Orientale de Paris has produced over 3,000 graduates.

 

Since the age of modernity, Korea has assessed itself and done its best to fit into the rules of Western modernism. Lee, on the other hand, is unique in that he impacted a West-centric culture as an outsider to French society. He absorbed France’s contemporary art while simultaneously teaching them Eastern traditions, using those traditions as the foundation for pioneering new modes of abstract expression and cultivating disciples to continue his artistic legacy. The works by the 11 students on display are individualistic, including creative adaptations of Chinese characters and calligraphy, watercolor expressions of the rhythm of brush calligraphy, and paintings of Korean poetry. They also, however, all bear traces of Lee Ungno in their materials, composition, and manner of wielding ink and brush. From within the context of the influence Western and Eastern arts have on each other, the creations by Lee’s students are an example of post-Western-centricism as well as a legacy of Lee Ungno, who forged a genre of contemporary Eastern art that was acknowledged as an equal to its Western counterpart. “India Ink with Blue Eyes” can hopefully, through its 11 featured French artists, serve as an invaluable opportunity to reflect on Lee Ungno’s desire for peace and a convergence of Eastern and Western art.


 


푸터


LEEUNGNO MUSEUM


#157, Dunsan-daero, Seo-gu, Daejeon, 35204, South Korea / Tel : 042) 611-9800 / Fax : 042) 611-9819

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