이인성과 이쾌대 혹은 식민지 현실과 연출된 상징성

Abstract

Lee In-seong(1912-1950) and Lee Que-dae(1913-1965) are representative painters of the early 1920’s. They have some connections from early childhood. They went to the same Suchang public elementary school and graduated together in 1928. They displayed considerable activity from 1930s through 1940s. However, Lee In-seong who is from a poor family couldn’t advance to middle school, while Lee Que-dae who is from a great landowning family could go to Japan to study. Lee In-Seong was a member of Hyangtohoe, a regional group of painters in Daegu, in the 1930s, while Lee Que-dae was a member of New Artists' Association consists of artists studied in Japan in the 1940s. Lee In-seong chose Joseon Arts Exhibition hosted by the Japanese Government General of Korea as a stage for his activity and received spotlight. Meanwhile, Lee Que-dae completely turned away from Joseon Arts Exhibition. They displayed different art worlds. Lee In-seong’s art world is connected to Joseon Native Color movement, while Lee Quedae displayed an art world related to progressive realism. Lee In-seong participated in the Joseon Arts Exhibition from the 8th exhibition held in 1929 through the 23rd in 1944 to submit 33 pieces in total. He received special selection prizes for six consecutive years from the 10th exhibition. When the exhibition started to select a recommended artist in 1937, he was chosen as the recommended artist in that first year at the young age of 25. His major works include “At Mountain Valley in Gyeongju” (1935), “On an Autumn Day” (1934), “Leisurely Garden” (1936) and “Rosa Rugosa” (1944). They are the pieces he submitted in the Joseon Arts Exhibition. Among them, “At Mountain Valley in Gyeongju” (1935) and “On an Autumn Day”(1934) that were created in the mid-1930s require more attention because they proves real worth of Lee In-seong’s art world. Since the seasonal discordance and spatial discordance that were presented in the two Lee In-seong’s major pieces were staged symbolism, special examination was demanded. Also, since the Joseon Native Color movement that underlies the two paintings is polysemous, examination of both the negative and positive aspects was required. The reality that Koreans were facing under the Japanese colonial rule was symbolized by ‘Red Soil’. Through the ups and downs of the history, Lee In-seong embodied the national romanticism based on lyricism. It is thought that “At Mountain Valle in Gyeonju” requires more attention because it describes real and concrete location with historicity in mind, compare to ambiguous circumstances of “ On an Autumn Day” (1934). Therefore, “At Mountain Valley in Gyeongju" can be said to be Lee In-Seong’s major work. Lee Que-dae was an active member of the (Joseon) New Artists‘ Association founded in 1941. Assessment of the association by Park Mun-won after liberation of Korea is interesting. He said that the association was based on the art-for-art principle but it was against the Joseon Art Exhibition and pursed pure Korean art, therefore what they were doing can be seen as passive resistance against Japanese colonial rule. Now there are 60 existing oil paintings and 300 drawings by Lee Que-dae. His early works created in the mid-1930s include “Court Lady Taking a Rest” (1935), “Dancer Taking a Rest” (1938),“Destiny” (1938), “Situation” (1938). Among them, “Figure group painting” series created after the country’s liberation, especially “Figure group painting IV”, is regarded as his major work. “Distress” (1948, the original work is lost) that describes the Dok-do bombing by American forces which killed dozens of civilians can also be highly regarded, too. Lee Que-dae embodied the national tradition in his works “Court Lady Taking a Rest” and “Dancer Taking a Rest”. Changes in production purpose of the two paintings were stemming from the situational factor of the time, the Sino-Japanese War. The embodiment of national tradition may be different in part from the Joseon native color movement, but it is assumable that it is related to ‘Things Korean’, the predominant concept of the 1930s in Korea. In addition, witnessing the Japanese art world’s move toward realism and student movement after some school complications at Tokyo University of Fine Arts where he was in attendance, Lee Que-dae may have realized reality recognition. Under such background, he created the artworks in question. If choose one major piece among his 1930’s works, “Situation” (1938) will be considered. In “Situation”, a dancer in traditional attire appears who helps storytelling with an emphasis on ‘things Korean’. Since Lee Quedae pursued progressive realism, it is availed to see epic reality from his art works. The 1930s when Lee In-Seong & Lee Que-dae started to actively create artworks was a time of ordeal. It was an age of anxiety in Korea because it was shifting to a wartime posture under Japanese colonial rule. In 1931, the Manchurian Incident happened and the country of Manchuria was founded in 1932. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933 and the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937. The war continued until 1945. Also, ‘Korea and Japan are one’ policy was pronounced and the situation was so uneasy that even Yi Kwang-soo (writer and independence movement, penname: Chunwon) insisted that the ‘Korea and Japan are one’ policy is the grace of the great emperor of Japan. Therefore, position of artists was also inconvenient. When Lee Que-dae tried to transform his art world was also around the time in 1937 when Korea shifted to a war basis. On the day of imperial Japan’s defeat in 1945, the number of Japanese people abroad was about 7 million. The proportion of solders to civilians was about 5 to 5. The number enables to assume the situation of the imperial Japan. The problem is the number of war victims. During the Sino-Japanese war, the number of Japanese victims in the 8 yearlong war period starting from 1937 was 3.1million according to the statistics, while the number of Asian victims during the 15-year-long period from the Manchurian incident through the end of the war is estimated to be 20million. Artists were creating artworks in such dark period and the situation led them to include their personal messages in their works. From the works of Lee In-Seong and Lee Que-dae, the actuality of colony can be seen and the staged symbolism that shows the distorted reality can be found. Rather than simple demonstration of reality, they tried to create their own stages and flaunt planning ability for meaning grant. That was realized in their works as staged symbolism in security for actuality of colony. The symbolism includes national consciousness of ‘things Korean’ and special language was in use to exemplify it. However, limitation in origin of Lee Inseong who participated in Joseon Arts Exhibition in his early career displayed contradicted scenes in staged sceneries in his paintings, allowing people to find unconscious symbolism. Meanwhile, Lee Que-dae presented staged sceneries under conscious planning, leading people to see the ethnicity of Koreans under the war footings at the end of Japanese colonial rule. If asked to compare the two artists graduated from same school in Daegu, macro discourse of Lee Que-dae would be more focused than discourse of Lee In-seong. But, since in the discourses suggested in both “At Mountain Valley in Gyeongju" by Lee In-seong and “Situation” by Lee Que-dae we can see the staged symbolism, both of them are worthy of notice as major artworks in the dark era of colonial rule. The symbolism reflects situation of the time that was disabled and, therefore, accompany contradiction and ambiguity. Staged symbolism is a temporary formal language created in that special situation of dark era of Japanese colonial rule.