Lot 476: Kim Whanki (1913-1974)

Untitled
Signed and dated Whanki 1969
Gouache on paper
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (15.7 x 23.5cm.)

Kim Whanki is a pillar of Korean modern art. Celebrated in exhibitions throughout the world, Kim's unique blend of Eastern and Western sensibilities has had timeless appeal since he started breaking new ground in the 1930s. Initially he moved to Japan to study European modernism, incorporating elements he admired in the paintings of Klee, Matisse and Braque with traditional Asian motifs. Gradually Kim was drawn to abstraction culminating in his experiments in New York in the '60s and early '70s. Kim synthesized the coloration of his early mentors in Paris and the formalism of the New York School in paintings that have luminosity and rhythm of their own.

Kim entered the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1933. He had his first one-person exhibition at the Amagi Gallery, Tokyo in 1937. In 1940 he had a one-person exhibition at the Jung Ja Ok Gallery, Seoul. He was a lecturer at Seoul University from 1946 to 1948 and a professor at Hong Ik University from 1953 to 1955 and 1959 to 1962. While living in Paris from 1956 to 1959 he had two exhibitions in France: at M. Benezit Gallery in Paris and Muratore Gallery in Nice. When he returned to Seoul in 1959 he had one-person exhibitions at the Korea Information Center Gallery and at the Bando Gallery. In New York he had one-person exhibitions at the Asia House Gallery in 1964, the Tasca Gallery in 1966 and Poindexter Gallery in 1971 and 1973. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul held a retrospective of his work in 1975.