NAM KWAN (KOREA, 1911-1990)

Nam Kwan is one of the most highly recognized pioneers of abstract painting in Korean Modern Art history. Having studied oil painting in Tokyo in the 1930s and 1940s, it was his fascination to gain direct exposure to Western abstract art that led him to Paris in 1954. Nam further studied oil painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where Chinese masters such as Zao Wouki and Chu Teh-Chun studied. His exposure to lyrical abstraction encouraged him to create a timeless and poetic universe while remaining faithful to his cultural roots. The fact that Nam was awarded a Grand
Prize in Manton Biennale in 1964 proves his artistic achievement. His paintings featured here, Old Form (Lot 569) and Fantasy (Lot 570) represent a magnificent exploration of the artist's signature ideogram style evoking letters, historical remains, crowns and Korean traditional masks. These works remind the viewers of the comment from a noted European critic, Bernard Dorival:
'Nam's work is a great example of sophisticated and exquisite sensibility of East Asia.'