Estimated Price Up to 5 Billion KRW: Kim Whanki's Late Works Auction

K-Auction's First Major Auction of the Year... Starting at 3 Billion KRW for a Work Completed One Year Before Artist's Passing in New York

Kim Whanki '22-X-73 #325', Oil on Cotton, 1973, 182×132 cm
[Photo by K Auction]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] A late work by Kim Whanki (1913?1974), expected to fetch up to 5 billion KRW at auction, will be featured in K Auction's first major auction of the year.

K Auction announced that 130 pieces worth approximately 9.2 billion KRW will be offered at the first major auction of 2021, held at 4 p.m. on the 20th. The highest-priced work is Kim Whanki's late New York period piece '22-X-73 #325,' completed in 1973, one year before his passing. K Auction plans to start bidding at 3 billion KRW.

K Auction explained that Kim Whanki painted this work with a contemplative attitude, reflecting on his deteriorating health and approaching death. He transformed his lifelong dominant blue tones into grayscale. By emptying the dots that once filled the canvas, he created orderly lines through elongated blank spaces. K Auction stated that the harmony of dots and lines, which encapsulate his entire artistic life, breathes infinite vitality into the work.

Kim Whanki 'XII-69', 1969, oil on paper, 58×47 cm
Photo by K Auction

Another work by Kim Whanki, 'XII-69,' from his 1969 New York period, clearly shows a cross composition. K Auction described, "The dotted painting filled with different colors in the divided upper screen evokes stars softly shining in the night sky," and "The free lines and shapes on both sides of the lower part of the work reveal the pure abstract world Kim Whanki pursued." The estimated price is between 150 million and 300 million KRW.

Works by Yoo Youngkuk, a contemporary artist and one of the two pillars of Korean abstract art alongside Kim Whanki, will also be auctioned. Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk formed a friendship in Japan in the late 1930s and walked the path of painters together. After returning to Korea, Yoo Youngkuk made a living as a fisherman in Uljin, Gyeongbuk, but resumed his career as a painter in 1947 when Kim Whanki invited him to be a professor in the Department of Applied Arts at Seoul National University.

After completing their studies in Japan and nurturing students post-liberation, Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk pursued full-time careers as artists to develop their own artistic worlds. The two masters expanded and developed Korean abstract art in distinct styles.

Kim Whanki started from semi-figurative nature, progressing through dots, lines, and color fields to gradually reach a fully abstract world of all-over dot paintings. Yoo Youngkuk began with geometric figurativism and completed a universal abstract style using basic design elements such as dots, lines, planes, shapes, and colors to depict everyday natural elements like mountains and seas. While Kim Whanki showed somewhat idealistic tendencies, Yoo Youngkuk exhibited a more realistic approach. Compared to the flexible Kim Whanki, Yoo Youngkuk maintained a consistent distance from the times and was more steadfast. Kim Whanki experimented with oil painting, gouache, objects, and drawings, whereas Yoo Youngkuk focused on oil painting. Yoo Youngkuk maintained a disciplined routine, waking at 7 a.m., working from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and again from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., producing over 400 oil paintings in his lifetime. He explored simplifying forms, pursuing exquisite color harmony, and maximizing surface texture.

Yeonguk Yoo 'Work', oil on canvas, 1989, 130.3×193.9 cm (No. 120) [Photo by K Auction]

Yoo Youngkuk's 1989 work 'Work' will be offered with an estimated price of 700 million to 1.5 billion KRW. Attention is focused on whether this will break Yoo Youngkuk's record high price. His highest record is 770 million KRW for the 1960 work 'Work,' sold at K Auction in May last year.

Park Soo-keun's 'Two Trees and Two Women,' created shortly before his death in 1964, will also be auctioned. This work showcases Park Soo-keun's characteristic near-monotone limited palette and the architectural expression of mature three-dimensional matter from the early 1960s. The estimated price is 300 million to 550 million KRW. The 1956 work 'Tree' was rarely drawn using crayon on paper. Its estimated price is 90 million to 160 million KRW.

Works by masters of figurative painting such as Cheon Kyung-ja's 'Mimosa Fragrance,' Jang Uk-jin's 'Person Under the Tree,' and Do Sang-bong's 'Rose,' as well as leading figures of Korean abstract painting like Jung Sang-hwa, Park Seo-bo, and Lee Ufan, will be auctioned. Four works by Kim Chang-yeul, the 'Water Drop Painter,' who passed away on the 5th, will also be included. Various works under size 20 by Kim Whanki, Yun Hyong-keun, Kim Chang-yeul, Kim Jong-hak, Park Seo-bo, Jung Sang-hwa, Ha Chong-hyun, and Lee Gun-yong will be offered.

Park Soo-keun, "Two Trees and Two Women," 1964, oil on Masonite, 13×22.5 cm
Photo by K Auction

Park Soo-keun 'Tree', 1956, Crayon on paper, 37.5×26 cm
[Photo by K Auction]

In the overseas section, works by Yoshitomo Nara such as 'Homesick with Ship,' Bernard Buffet's 'Nointel, La Station en Hiver,' Ayako Rokkaku's 'Untitled,' as well as pieces by Yayoi Kusama, David Hockney, Julian Opie, Jonas Wood, and Mr. Doodle will be featured.

In Korean painting and antiques, Danwon Kim Hong-do's 'Tapsanggojado,' Gyeomjae Jeong Seon's grandson Jeong Hwang's 'Jangansa,' three letters and one poem by Chusa Kim Jeong-hui, 'Sculpted Bookshelf,' 'Lacquered Corner Repair,' 'Deumeu,' 'White Porcelain Vase with Plum Blossom Relief,' 'Blue and White Porcelain Vase with Plum and Bamboo Design,' and 'Buncheong Ware Vase with Fish and Flower Design' will be offered.

The auction items can be viewed at the K Auction exhibition hall from the 9th until the auction on the 20th. Viewing is free, but to prevent the spread of COVID-19, reservations are required, masks must be worn, and non-contact temperature checks will be conducted at the entrance. Those wishing to participate in the auction must register as K Auction members (free) and can bid in writing, on-site, or by phone.

Jonas Wood 'Speaker Still Life', 2019, lithograph, screen print, 99.5×75 cm (edition PP 2)
Photo by K Auction

Mr. Doodle 'Yellow Flower, Blue Robot, Orange Fish, Pink Bird (Set of 4)', 2019, screen print, each 35×35 cm
Photo by K Auction

Danwon Kim Hong-do 'Tapsang Gosido (榻上高士圖), ink and light color on silk, 26×19.5 cm
Photo by K Auction

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.