회화 속에 되살아난 전통: 서양화가 도상봉(1902-1977)의 조선백자 재현을 중심으로

Abstract

Joseon white porcelain is one of the representative works of art of Korea. An art historian, Choi Soon-woo(1916-1984) said “The white porcelain of the Joseon Dynasty contains the richest ethnic sentiment.” In this way, Koreans have had found their ethnic identity in white porcelain and they have eagerly collected, appreciated, and reproduced it in various ways. Korean modern painters also have awakened to the “artistic” value of Korean traditional crafts and used them as materials for their paintings. For example, To Sang-bong(1902-1977), the first generation of Western painters of Korea was the representative man who painted the beauty of flowing curves and the milky white color of it. Based on this situation, this paper examined the rediscovery of the beauty of white porcelain in modern Korea, focusing on the activities and works of To Sang-bong. I discussed the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery of white porcelain in connection with the activities of Muneyoshi Yanagi (1889-1961), which was carried out in both Korea and Japan. In addition, I reconsidered the background of To’s lifelong painting of white porcelain from the perspective of the “Theory of Orient” in Korea in the 1930s and the “Shinnihon Shugi” in the Japanese art world. Korean Western painters made it their artistic task to express Korea’s unique sense of beauty using the techniques of modern painting that were accepted through Japan. Also, in seeking cultural independence from the West and Japan, they focused on the material of Korean white porcelain. As a Korean artist and a modern Western painter, To Sang-bong discovered white porcelain as a material while wondering what and how he should paint, and he formed his unique art style while painting white porcelain as his lifelong theme.