SEOUL.- Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020, Gallery Hyundai presents Portrait, Figure and People - Modern and Contemporary Figure Paintings of Korea.

This exhibition features a selection of figure paintings from a century of Korean Modern and Contemporary Art from the 1910s through the 2000s, all of which manifest both a spirit of the time and individual ingenuity.

Figure paintings, in embodying different human typologies through transformations in era and social circumstances, can be seen as the self-portrait of Korean history itself. They therefore carry not only art historical value but serve as historical documentation where the dress and lifestyle of the subjects depicted yield a view into Korea’s modernization.

The selection includes special works designated as cultural heritage such as Ko Huidong’s Self-Portrait, Kim KwanHo’s Sunset, the first Nude painting in Korea which created a sensation in society at that time, and Pai Unsoung’s A Big Family. Lee Insung’s One Autumn Day and Lee Jungsup’s Family on the Road are among many other major works from the history of Korean Modern and Contemporary Art. Some of the works reflect the socio-political situations of the 1980s while other depict simple everyday life of the times.

These works leave a subtle yet resounding impression even to us in the present — they impart warm sensibilities of the Korean people that survived the pains of Japanese Occupation, the Korean War, and democratization movement, the joy and sorrow of individuals in their respective lives, and the love and caring among families.

This exhibition provides an opportunity to rediscover Korean figurative painting and to increase awareness of the importance and uniqueness of Korean Modern and Contemporary Art.