Kim Tschang-yeul facts for kids

Kim Tschang-yeul (김창열, 金昌烈, born December 24, 1929 – died January 5, 2021) was a famous South Korean artist. He was best known for his unique abstract paintings that featured realistic water droplets. Kim was a key member of the Modern Artists' Association in South Korea. He also joined the Art Informel movement during the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s, Kim Tschang-yeul started showing his art around the world. He studied in the United States and then moved to Paris in 1969. It was there that he developed his special water droplet paintings.

He was the father of French artist Oan Kim.

Early Life and Art Beginnings

Kim Tschang-yeul was born in Maengsan, which is now part of North Korea, in 1929. From the age of five, Kim learned calligraphy from his grandfather. This early experience greatly influenced his later artworks. His uncle also taught him to sketch, and Kim decided he wanted to be an artist.

In 1946, his hometown came under Soviet control. Kim faced difficulties and had to leave high school early. After a short time, he fled to Seoul, which was then under US control. He lived in a refugee camp for about a year.

Art Education and Challenges

After leaving school, Kim Tschang-yeul moved to Seoul. He joined different private painting studios to learn more about art. In 1947, he trained under a sculptor named Lee Guk-jeon. Later, he learned painting from Lee Quede.

Wanting to continue his studies, he enrolled at Seoul National University in 1948. However, the Korean War began in 1950. This stopped his formal art education during his second year. The war caused great hardship for Kim. He lost family members and many classmates.

Art in Post-War Korea

To avoid being drafted into the army, Kim volunteered for the police force in 1951. He worked as a policeman until 1961. While stationed in Seoul, he worked as a librarian at the Police Academy. This job allowed him to see art books and magazines. Through these, he learned about the modern European Art Informel movement. Even as a policeman, he submitted poems and paintings to the Police Academy's magazine.

Kim Tschang-yeul also helped start the Contemporary Artists Association in 1957. This group wanted to change the old-fashioned Korean art world. They felt the government-run art exhibitions were too traditional. The group experimented with new styles like European Art Informel and American Abstract Expressionism. These styles showed strong feelings and experiences. Kim believed that the suffering of young Korean artists during the Korean War gave these styles a special Korean meaning.

In 1958, Kim showed his works at the fourth exhibition of the Contemporary Artists Association. This exhibition got a lot of attention. It was seen as the start of Korean Art Informel. Even though Kim left the Korean art scene in the 1960s, he is still known as one of the first Dansaekhwa artists. Dansaekhwa is a style of Korean abstract painting.

International Art Career

After leaving the police force, Kim Tschang-yeul became a teacher. He slowly started to focus on the international art world. He sent his art to important shows like the Biennale de Paris in 1961 and 1963. He also sent works to the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1965.

From 1966 to 1968, he received a special grant. This allowed him to study at the Art Students League of New York. In 1969, he took part in the Paris Avant Garde Festival with help from Nam June Paik. After this, he moved to Paris for good and married Martine Gillon.

A big moment in Kim's career was his participation in the Salon de Mai in Paris in 1972. For this show, he presented his famous water droplet painting, Event of Night (1972). This painting received great praise from art critics.

For the rest of his life, Kim continued to create water droplet paintings. These paintings showed realistic water drops on simple, monochromatic backgrounds. They combined realistic details with abstract ideas.

The success of his water droplet paintings was a huge reward for Kim. He had worked quietly in the French art world for almost ten years. In a letter to his friend and artist Park Seo-bo in 1974, Kim wrote that he suddenly had many art shows scheduled.

Throughout the 1970s, Kim Tschang-yeul participated in many group exhibitions. He also held solo shows. This helped him become well-known in Europe, America, Canada, and Japan. His art was shown at major art fairs like Art Cologne and Art Basel. In the 1980s, Kim created new water-drop series. These included Poem of 100 Characters and Recurrence.

The Meaning of Water Droplet Paintings

People who study Kim Tschang-yeul's art often see his water droplets as having many meanings. They can represent cleansing, purification, and how short individual life is.

Art experts explain that Kim used a trompe l’oeil technique. This means "to trick the eye" and makes the water drops look incredibly real. But he also used the canvas itself as part of the art. Sometimes he painted on newspaper. This mix of real-looking drops and the canvas showing itself made his art special. When he added Chinese characters, it became even more complex. The characters acted as a background but also carried a deeper message.

Lee Il, a famous art critic who wrote about Korean Dansaekhwa, also highlighted the importance of both the canvas and the image. He said that the Chinese calligraphy and the water drops worked together. The characters were not just a background. They actually covered and interacted with the water drop images.

Dansaekhwa artists often use the background material, like canvas or paper, as an active part of their art. For Kim Tschang-yeul, his water drops were not just stuck on the surface. They were fully connected to the canvas.

When Kim Tschang-yeul moved to Paris, he became interested in Buddhism. This greatly influenced his art. His paintings often show links to nature. The way the water droplets interact with the canvas space shows his understanding of painting. Kim explained that painting "clear, impeccable" water drops helped him to think about and heal from the difficult memories of war.

Legacy

Kim Tschang-yeul is considered a very important figure in Korean modern art. He has been compared to artists like Lee Ufan and Nam June Paik.

In 1996, he was honored in France. He was named a chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2013, he received a silver crown from the South Korean Government. This was the Order of Cultural Merit.

The Kim Tschang-yeul Museum opened in Jeju Island in September 2016. Kim Tschang-yeul gave 220 of his artworks to the museum. His art is also kept in many international museums and galleries.

See also

In Spanish: Kim Tschang-yeul para niños