| 2018-01-31 | English | [Hankyoreh Newspaper]‘Lee Han Woo’ story told by Lee Han Woo, the Artist |
‘Lee Han Woo’ story told by Lee Han Woo, the Artist Gwon Bog Gi Journalist from Hankyoreh Newspaper I was born and raised in Tongyeong. There was ocean 20 meters from my house. It’s a beautiful town. Maybe because I grew up looking at the sky and sea, I liked painting since I was little. When I was a teacher at Geoje elementary school, I wanted to go to Tongyeong and paint so bad, but the school vice-commissioner wouldn’t let me go because he liked my charts and experimental classes. I was awarded the official commendation of excellent teacher in 1962, but painting had always been my dream. When I was teaching in Geoje, I started to feel sick I guess from too much work. But still, the vice-commissioner wouldn’t let me go. Later he passed away and I went to the funeral, and his daughter-in-law told that he said sorry to me as his last words. So I went to Tongyeong in 12 years. But I felt exhausted at the end of each morning, went to the hospital, and they said I was tuberculosis. What the heck. The medicine didn’t work. My wife started to help me with special diet since then and now she follows me to business trips to other provinces and exhibitions overseas. Maybe that’s why I’m still healthy and alive. Half of my paintings are done by my wife. How did I recover? There was one hospital where I could get operation in Masan, and it was a military hospital. I just went there, bribed the guard with a pack of cigarette, and met an army doctor. I begged. Isn’t the military for the citizens, save me. I live for painting and I want to live and paint. I have wife and kids. I went to his home. When I went there after he told me to come the next day, he gave me the military uniform with chevron of captain and told me to wear it. There was a 8 hour long operation. I couldn’t be treated there so they released me after a week, without no painkillers. Ah, the pain. I would put it as the pain as if the whole earth is crushing my entire body. Mourning and fainting, I realized all the living creatures are basically the same. I determined to value every living thing, even a fly when I get recovered. The pain died down a little and I wanted to paint again. I water painted on rice paper and dried it over a candle in a hurry, and that painting ended up as an amazing abstract painting. I submitted it to Backyanghoi contest and won. I wanted to paint more. I had family. I had been in a business dealing with lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl business for 7 years and made some money. The blue house was one of my clients, which means my skills were recognized more or less. After I got accepted at national Korea art contest in 1970, I put my younger brother in charge of the business, came to Seoul, and started painting seriously. Mainly I drew still-life paintings, focusing on traditional Korean subjects like antique furniture and earthenware. My works had been selected as the specially selected several times and I as an invited artist until before national Korea art contest disappeared. They called my way of painting the ‘Lee Han Woo style’, and bought my pieces. But still, where I graduated from was more important than my art to people. They say artists are supposed to be good at mingling with people or drinking, but I didn’t like that. That’s why I got interested in bonsai and fishing. But you know what? There was a very shocking incident around 1990. There was a fan of my work who was a business man and a regular customer of mine, and one time in Ireland, he introduced me to Pissarro the 3rd, the famous artist and grandson of the great impressionist Pissarro. He saw my works and said my painting might be better than the French in skills, but they still were mere imitation of the Western. And that I should paint my own. Thus, it was a shock. I couldn’t touch my brushes for a while after I came back to Korea. Looking for a way to draw oil painting with the oriental style, I started to draw our mountains and rivers inspired from the use of wide lines in pictures of mountains. I chose the soil color as the main color. I’ve been told many things. There weren’t many who liked the new style around me, and I had doubts about my decision to change my style from well-selling still-life paintings. Around that time, my friend advised me to go to France and study and I did at my not-so-young age. An exhibition at Musee de l’Orangerie resolved his deep sorrow. An exhibition makes an artist reflect on himself. It forces you to look, evaluate, find spots, and improve. I think that’s how we should live until the moment of death. Like Beethoven who just didn’t give up music even when he became deaf. Philosophy and will are the most important above all. - Above is summary of the speech of the artist Lee Han Woo by Kwon Bog Gi reporter from Hankyore Newspaper. |
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