STORY | Chun Kyung-ja

A journey to find

the masters of Korean art 8

The Legend of My Sad Story: Chun Kyung-ja

내 슬픈 이야기의 전설: 천경자

Die Legende meiner traurigen Geschichte: Chun Kyung-ja

※This article was planned as part of a review of Korean art history to shed new light on Korean modern and contemporary art history, which has been considered a periphery of the world art world, and the artists who led it, and to gain a deeper understanding of their world of work.

Recently, as the activities and works of female artists have been receiving attention, an unprecedented boom of female artists has been blowing in the art world. The reason female artists have been able to shine like this is probably because their predecessors paved the way. Let’s meet Chun Kyung-ja (1924-2015), the Korean Frida Kahlo who stood tall in the turbulent modern history of Korea with her own style and left a great mark on the history of art.

※이 기사는 그동안 세계미술계의 변방으로 여겨졌던 한국 근현대 미술사와 이를 이끈 작가들을 재조명하고 그들의 작품세계를 더욱 깊게 이해해보기 위한 한국미술사 다시보기의 일환으로 기획되었습니다.

최근 여성 작가들의 활동과 작품들이 주목받으면서 유래 없는 여류 작가의 붐이 예술신에 불고 있다. 여성 작가들이 이렇게 빛을 볼 수 있게 된 것은 그녀들의 선배들이 길을 닦아 놓았기 때문일 것이다. 격동의 근대 한국사에서 자신만의 작풍으로 당당하게 맞서며 예술사에 큰 족적을 남
긴 한국의 프리다 칼로, 천경자(千鏡子, 1924~2015)를 만나보자.

※Dieser Artikel war als Teil eines Rückblicks auf die koreanische Kunstgeschichte geplant, um ein neues Licht auf die moderne und zeitgenössische Kunstgeschichte Koreas, die als Randgebiet der Weltkunstwelt gilt, und die Künstler, die sie anführten, zu werfen und einen tieferen Einblick zu gewinnen Verständnis für ihre Arbeitswelt.

In jüngster Zeit, als die Aktivitäten und Werke weiblicher Künstler Aufmerksamkeit erhielten, erlebte die Kunstwelt einen beispiellosen Boom weiblicher Künstler. Der Grund, warum Künstlerinnen so glänzen konnten, liegt wahrscheinlich darin, dass ihre Vorgängerinnen den Weg ebneten. Lernen wir Chun Kyung-ja (1924-2015) kennen, die koreanische Frida Kahlo, die mit ihrem eigenen Stil in der turbulenten modernen Geschichte Koreas eine herausragende Rolle spielte und die Kunstgeschichte nachhaltig prägte.

She was born in 1924 in Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do with the name Chun Ok-ja. Thanks to her maternal grandfather, who was very interested in education despite the fact that women were not given education at the time, she was able to enter Gwangju Public Girls’ High School and continue her studies. Her homeroom teacher, who recognized her artistic talent, recommended that she study art. In this way, Cheon Ok-ja decided to become a painter, and after graduating from school, Cheon Ok-ja went to study abroad at the Tokyo Women's Art School in Japan under the name Cheon Gyeong-ja in 1941. In Japan, she studied under the portrait painter Kobayagawa Kiyoshi (小早川淸, 1899-1948) and learned portrait painting. In 1943 and 1944, she began to make a name for herself in the art world when she won awards for her "Grandfather" (1943), a painting of her maternal grandfather who had always supported her, and "Old Woman" (1943), a painting of her maternal grandmother.

그녀는 1924년 전라남도 고흥군에서 천옥자라는 이름으로 출생했다. 여성에게는 교육을 시키지 않았던 당시의 풍토와는 다르게 교육에 관심이 많았던 외할아버지 덕분에 그녀는 광주공립여자고등보통학교에 입학하여 공부를 계속할 수 있었다. 그녀의 예술적 재능을 알아본 담임 선생님이 그녀에게 미술 공부를 추천했다. 이렇게 천옥자는 화가의 길을 가기로 결심했고, 학교를 졸업한 천옥자는 천경자라는 이름으로 1941년 일본의 도쿄여자미술학교로 유학을 떠났다. 일본에서 그녀는 인물화가인 고바야가와 기요시(小早川淸, 1899~1948)의 문하에 들어가 인물화를 익혔고, 1943년과 1944년 조선미술전람회에서 자신을 늘 지지해 주었던 외할아버지를 그린 「조부(祖父)」(1943)와 외할머니를 그린 「노부(老婦)」(1943)로 입선하며 예술계에 이름을 알리기 시작했다.

Sie wurde 1924 in Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, als Chun Ok-ja geboren. Dank ihres Großvaters mütterlicherseits, der sich sehr für Bildung interessierte, obwohl Frauen damals keine Bildung erhielten, konnte sie die öffentliche Mädchenoberschule von Gwangju besuchen und ihre Ausbildung fortsetzen. Ihr Klassenlehrer, der ihr künstlerisches Talent erkannte, empfahl ihr, Kunst zu studieren. Auf diese Weise beschloss Cheon Ok-ja, Malerin zu werden, und nach ihrem Schulabschluss ging Cheon Ok-ja 1941 unter dem Namen Cheon Gyeong-ja zum Studium an die Tokyo Women's Art School in Japan. In Japan studierte sie bei dem Porträtmaler Kobayagawa Kiyoshi (小早川淸, 1899-1948) und erlernte Porträtmalerei. In den Jahren 1943 und 1944 begann sie, sich in der Kunstwelt einen Namen zu machen, als sie Preise für ihr „Großvater“ (1943), ein Gemälde ihres Großvaters mütterlicherseits, der sie immer unterstützt hatte, und „Alte Frau“ (1943), ein Gemälde ihrer Großmutter mütterlicherseits, gewann.

However, just as she was about to begin her artistic career in earnest, World War II broke out, and Cheon Gyeong-ja returned to Joseon. After liberation, she became an art teacher at her alma mater and rekindled her passion for art, but the Korean War, the greatest event in modern Korean history, broke out, and Chun Kyung-ja also lost her home and family in the war, suffering great emotional wounds. However, Chun Kyung-ja did not give in to this, and took up her brush again to overcome her fear of war and emotional wounds. She expressed her fear of war on canvas using snakes and human bones, and she received great attention from the art world when she published “Ecology” (1951), which showed dozens of snakes entangled together.

However, her adaptation to the Korean art world was not easy. At a time when ink and wash painting was the trend, Chun Kyung-ja mainly presented colored paintings using strong and splendid colors, but her works were harshly criticized and rejected by the older generation, saying that they were too Japanese. However, Chun Kyung-ja did not give in to the criticism, and instead, she took the bold step of refusing to participate in the National Art Exhibition and pioneered her own new style using strong colors. With her unique Korean painting style that attempted various variations of traditional paintings, Cheon Kyung-ja won the Presidential Award from the Korean Fine Arts Association in 1955 and was later appointed as a professor of Oriental Painting at Hongik University, eventually gaining recognition in the Korean art world and establishing herself as a leading painter of her time.

하지만 이렇게 본격적으로 작품 활동을 하려던 찰나 세계 2차대전이 터지며 천경자는 다시 조선땅으로 돌아왔다. 광복 이후, 그녀는 모교에서 미술 교사로 교편을 잡게 되며 다시 미술에 대한 열정을 불태웠지만 근대 한국역사의 가장 큰 사건인 한국 전쟁이 발발했고, 천경자 역시 전쟁으로 삶의 터전과 가족을 잃으며 마음에 큰 상처를 입었다. 그러나 천경자는 이에 굴복하지 않고 전쟁에 대한 공포와 마음의 상처를 극복하기 위해 다시 붓을 잡았다. 그녀는 뱀과 인골(人骨)을 소재로 전쟁에 대한 공포를 캔버스 위에 발산해냈고, 수십 마리의 뱀이 뒤엉킨 모습의 「생태(生態)」(1951)를 발표하며 화단의 큰 주목을 받았다.

그러나 그녀의 한국 화단 적응기는 쉽지 않았다. 천경자는 수묵화가 대세였던 당시에 강렬하고 화려한 색감을 주로 사용한 채색화를 선보였는데 그녀의 이런 작품은 기성세대들에게 왜색이 짙은 작품이라며 거센 비판과 배척을 당했다. 그러나 천경자는 비난에 굴하지 않고 오히려 국전 참여를 거부하는 강수를 둬가며 강렬한 색감을 사용한 자신만의 새로운 스타일을 개척해 나갔다. 전통회화의 다양한 변주를 시도한 독창적인 한국화 작풍으로 쳔경자는 1955년 대한미술현회전 대통령상을 수상했고 이후 홍익대학교 동양화과 교수로 임명되는 등 결국 한국 화단의 인정을 받게 되며 당대 주요 화가로 자리매김 했다.

Gerade als sie ihre künstlerische Karriere ernsthaft beginnen wollte, brach der Zweite Weltkrieg aus und Cheon Gyeong-ja kehrte nach Joseon zurück. Nach der Befreiung wurde sie Kunstlehrerin an ihrer Alma Mater und entfachte ihre Leidenschaft für die Kunst neu, doch der Koreakrieg, das größte Ereignis in der modernen koreanischen Geschichte, brach aus und Chun Kyung-ja verlor auch ihr Zuhause und ihre Familie im Krieg und erlitt schwere emotionale Wunden. Chun Kyung-ja gab jedoch nicht nach und griff erneut zum Pinsel, um ihre Angst vor dem Krieg und ihre emotionalen Wunden zu überwinden. Sie drückte ihre Angst vor dem Krieg auf Leinwand mit Schlangen und menschlichen Knochen aus und erhielt große Aufmerksamkeit von der Kunstwelt, als sie „Ökologie“ (1951) veröffentlichte, das Dutzende ineinander verschlungene Schlangen zeigt.

Ihre Anpassung an die koreanische Kunstwelt war jedoch nicht einfach. Zu einer Zeit, als Tuschemalerei im Trend lag, präsentierte Chun Kyung-ja hauptsächlich farbige Gemälde mit kräftigen und prächtigen Farben, doch ihre Werke wurden von der älteren Generation scharf kritisiert und abgelehnt, da sie zu japanisch seien. Chun Kyung-ja gab der Kritik jedoch nicht nach, sondern lehnte stattdessen mutig ihre Teilnahme an der Nationalen Kunstausstellung ab und entwickelte ihren eigenen neuen Stil mit kräftigen Farben. Mit ihrem einzigartigen koreanischen Malstil, der verschiedene Variationen traditioneller Gemälde versuchte, gewann Cheon Kyung-ja 1955 den Präsidentenpreis der Korean Fine Arts Association und wurde später zur Professorin für orientalische Malerei an der Hongik University ernannt, wo sie schließlich Anerkennung in der koreanischen Kunstwelt fand und sich als führende Malerin ihrer Zeit etablierte.

천경자, <생태 生態>, 1951, 종이에 채색, 51.5×87cm, 서울시립미술관 소장

Chun Kyung-ja's early painting style was mainly composed of portraits, and the influence of Japanese color painting still remained, making her lyrical but colorful. From the late 1960s, Cheon Kyung-ja turned her attention to overseas rather than domestically. She was the only female war artist who traveled to the Vietnam War, and she pioneered her own unique painting style called 'Chun Kyung-ja Landscape Painting' by going on 12 overseas sketching trips, starting from Tahiti to Europe, Africa, and Central and South America. During her time abroad, Cheon Kyung-ja experimented with Western painting techniques that used thick layers of pigment to bring out the natural texture of materials, and applied them to Oriental paintings. Her style was also evaluated as moving away from realistic landscapes to dreamlike and fantastical worlds, and expressing foreign landscapes in a more exotic and mysterious way.

천경자의 초기 화풍은 사생적인 인물화가 주를 이루었는데 일본채색화의 영향이 아직 남아 서정적이지만 화려한 색감이 돋보였다. 1960년대 후반부터 천경자는 이 시기 국내보다 해외에 눈을 돌렸다. 그녀는 유일한 여성 종군 화가로 베트남 전장을 누비기도 했고, 타히티를 시작으로 유럽과 아프리카, 중남미 등 해외 스케치 기행을 12번이나 다니며 '천경자 풍물화'라는 개성적인 화풍을 개척했다. 해외 체류 시기 천경자는 안료를 두텁게 올리며 재료의 자연스러운 질감을 살리는 서양화풍의 기법을 동양화에 접목한 실험적인 기법을 시도했고, 작풍 역시 사실적인 풍경에서 벗어나 몽환적이고 환상적인 세계를 그리며 외국의 풍경을 더욱 이국적이고 신비롭게 표현하였다는 평가를 받았다.

Chun Kyung-jas früher Malstil bestand hauptsächlich aus Porträts, und der Einfluss der japanischen Farbmalerei blieb bestehen, was ihre Bilder lyrisch, aber farbenfroh machte. Ab den späten 1960er Jahren richtete Cheon Kyung-ja ihre Aufmerksamkeit eher auf das Ausland als auf das Inland. Sie war die einzige Kriegskünstlerin, die in den Vietnamkrieg reiste, und sie entwickelte ihren eigenen einzigartigen Malstil namens „Chun Kyung-ja Landscape Painting“, indem sie 12 Auslands-Skizzenreisen unternahm, die von Tahiti über Europa, Afrika und Mittel- und Südamerika führten. Während ihrer Zeit im Ausland experimentierte Cheon Kyung-ja mit westlichen Maltechniken, bei denen dicke Pigmentschichten verwendet wurden, um die natürliche Textur der Materialien hervorzuheben, und wandte diese auf orientalische Gemälde an. Ihr Stil wurde auch dahingehend bewertet, dass er sich von realistischen Landschaften hin zu traumhaften und fantastischen Welten bewegt und fremde Landschaften auf eine exotischere und geheimnisvollere Weise darstellt.

천경자, <내 슬픈 전설의 49페이지>, 1976, 종이에 채색, 130x162cm, 서울미술관

In the late 1970s, she changed her work again, creating portraits of women and flowers, which are her representative subjects. Her portraits, which contain the figures of women steeped in sorrow and gorgeous flowers in one canvas, look beautiful, but they are autobiographical works that express the sorrow of women. The women in her works look out of the screen with sharp eyes. However, this appearance does not seem scary, but rather transcendent. These portraits, which hide their sorrow and resentment in flowers and look toward the future, can be seen as self-portraits that show the life of Cheon Kyung-ja, who survived the turbulent history of Korea.

1970년대 후반, 그녀는 또다시 작업에 변화를 주었는데, 바로 그녀를 대표하는 여인과 꽃을 주제로 한 인물화 작업이다. 우수에 젖은 여성의 인물상과 화려한 꽃을 한 화폭에 담은 그녀의 초상화들은 아름다워 보이지만 여인의 한을 표현하는 자전적인 작품이다. 그녀 작품속의 여인들은 매서운 눈을 하고 화면 밖을 바라보고 있다. 그러나 이런 모습이 무섭다기보다는 오히려 초월적으로 보인다. 자신의 슬픔과 한은 꽃 속에 숨기고 미래를 바라보는 이 초상화들은 격동의 한국사에서 살아남은 천경자의 삶을 보여주는 자화상으로 볼 수 있다.

In den späten 1970er Jahren änderte sie ihre Arbeit erneut und schuf Porträts von Frauen und Blumen, die ihre repräsentativen Motive sind. Ihre Porträts, die die Figuren von in Trauer versunkenen Frauen und prächtigen Blumen auf einer Leinwand enthalten, sehen wunderschön aus, aber es sind autobiografische Werke, die die Trauer der Frauen zum Ausdruck bringen. Die Frauen in ihren Werken blicken mit scharfen Augen aus dem Bildschirm. Dieser Anblick wirkt jedoch nicht beängstigend, sondern eher transzendent. Diese Porträts, die ihre Trauer und ihren Groll in Blumen verbergen und in die Zukunft blicken, können als Selbstporträts angesehen werden, die das Leben von Cheon Kyung-ja zeigen, die die turbulente Geschichte Koreas überlebt hat.

천경자, <고(孤)>, 1974, 종이에 채색, 38.5x23.3cm, 개인소장

Chun Kyung-jas früher Malstil bestand hauptsächlich aus Porträts, und der Einfluss der japanischen Farbmalerei blieb bestehen, was ihr einen lyrischen, aber farbenfrohen Stil verlieh. Ab den späten 1960er Jahren richtete Cheon Kyung-ja ihre Aufmerksamkeit eher auf das Ausland als auf das Inland. Sie war die einzige Kriegskünstlerin, die in den Vietnamkrieg reiste, und sie entwickelte ihren eigenen einzigartigen Malstil namens „Chun Kyung-ja Landscape Painting“, indem sie 12 Auslands-Skizzenreisen unternahm, die von Tahiti über Europa, Afrika sowie Mittel- und Südamerika führten. Während ihrer Zeit im Ausland experimentierte Cheon Kyung-ja mit westlichen Maltechniken, bei denen dicke Pigmentschichten verwendet wurden, um die natürliche Textur der Materialien hervorzuheben, und wandte diese auf orientalische Gemälde an. Ihr Stil wurde auch als Abkehr von realistischen Landschaften hin zu traumhaften und fantastischen Welten und als Ausdruck fremder Landschaften auf exotischere und geheimnisvollere Weise bewertet.

위작 논란의 <미인도>

That is why the forgery incident of <Portrait of a Beauty>, a great scandal that occurred in 1991, is even more tragic. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Cheon Kyung-ja were in a sharp conflict over the authenticity of <Portrait of a Beauty>, which is believed to have been painted in 1977. Despite the artist’s claim that it was not her work, her claim was not accepted, and after this incident, Cheon Kyung-ja was greatly shocked by the stigma of being “a painter who does not even recognize her own work,” and declared that she would stop writing and left for the United States. Although the authenticity of this work is still uncertain, it is inevitable to wonder whether the artist did not recognize the work, which is like a self-portrait containing her soul and life.

Artist Chun Kyung-ja is evaluated as a versatile modern girl who freely expressed her own individuality in the midst of the whirlwind of modern and contemporary Korean history, regardless of the criticism and gaze of others, and as a great pioneer who raised modern Korean color painting to a new level with her unique painting style. That is why it feels even more bitter that she was embroiled in several scandals, such as the <Portrait of a Beauty> incident in her later years and the failure of the construction of the Chun Kyung-ja Art Museum due to the poor management of her works.

그렇기에 1991년 일어난 희대의 스캔들인 <미인도> 위작 사건은 더욱 비극적인 일이다. 1977년 그려졌다고 추정되는 <미인도>의 진위여부를 두고 국립현대미술관과 천경자 측은 첨예하게 대립했다. 자신의 작품이 아니라는 작가의 주장에도 불구하고 그녀의 주장은 받아들여지지 않았고, 이사건으로 천경자는 “자기 작품도 몰라보는 화가”라는 오명에 큰 충격을 받고 절필 선언을 한 후 미국으로 떠났다. 이 작품의 진위 여부는 아직까지도 불확실하지만 자신의 혼과 삶을 담은 자화상과 같은 작품을 과연 작가가 몰라봤을까 하는 의구심이 드는 것은 어쩔 수 없다.

천경자 화백은 한국 근현대사의 소용돌이 속에서 남들의 비판과 시선에 아랑곳하지 않고 고고하게 자신만의 개성을 자유롭게 표현한 다재다능한 모던걸이자, 독창적인 화풍으로 현대 한국채색화를 한단계 끌어 올린 위대한 개척자로 평가되고 있다. 그렇기에 말년의 <미인도> 사건, 작품의 부실 관리로 인한 천경자미술관 건립 무산 사건 등 여러 스캔들에 휘말린 것이 더욱 씁쓸하게 느껴진다.

Deshalb ist der Fälschungsvorfall von <Portrait of a Beauty>, ein großer Skandal, der sich 1991 ereignete, noch tragischer. Das Nationalmuseum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst und Cheon Kyung-ja stritten sich heftig über die Echtheit von <Portrait of a Beauty>, das vermutlich 1977 gemalt wurde. Obwohl die Künstlerin behauptete, es sei nicht ihr Werk, wurde ihre Behauptung nicht akzeptiert, und nach diesem Vorfall war Cheon Kyung-ja zutiefst schockiert über das Stigma, „eine Malerin zu sein, die nicht einmal ihre eigenen Werke erkennt“, und erklärte, sie würde mit dem Schreiben aufhören und in die Vereinigten Staaten gehen. Obwohl die Echtheit dieses Werks noch immer ungewiss ist, ist es unvermeidlich, sich zu fragen, ob die Künstlerin das Werk nicht erkannt hat, das wie ein Selbstporträt ist, das ihre Seele und ihr Leben enthält.

Die Künstlerin Chun Kyung-ja wird als vielseitiges modernes Mädchen angesehen, das ihre eigene Individualität inmitten des Wirbelsturms der modernen und zeitgenössischen koreanischen Geschichte frei zum Ausdruck brachte, ungeachtet der Kritik und Blicke anderer, und als große Pionierin, die die moderne koreanische Farbmalerei mit ihrem einzigartigen Malstil auf ein neues Niveau hob. Deshalb ist es umso bitterer, dass sie in mehrere Skandale verwickelt war, wie den Vorfall mit <Portrait of a Beauty> in ihren späteren Jahren und das Scheitern des Baus des Chun Kyung-ja Art Museum aufgrund der schlechten Verwaltung ihrer Werke.

References

[참고자료]

천경자, 탱고가 흐르는 황혼, 서울:세종문고, 1995

FIN.

Written by

Kate Kim

Published, Copyright by

ART?ART! Editor Team

Date

2024. 8.29