1950s Newspaper Illustrations by Park Sookeun, Jang Wookjin, and Seobo Park: 207 Works to Be Auctioned at Once

K-Auction’s September 30 Auction Features 117 Lots Worth 11 Billion Won
Illustrated Album by 61 Artists Estimated at 260 Million–400 Million Won
Historical Significance for Postwar Korean Art

A total of 207 illustrations by major Korean modern and contemporary artists, including Park Sookeun, Jang Wookjin, Kim Kichang, Park Raehyun, and Seobo Park, created for newspapers in the 1950s, are coming to auction all at once.

Jang Ukjin, , 1958. Marker on paper, 7.5×8.5 cm. This work is included in an album compiling 207 illustrations by Korean modern and contemporary artists published in the Seoul Newspaper from 1956 to 1959. K-Auction

On September 18, K-Auction announced that it will hold its September auction featuring 117 lots with an estimated total value of around 11 billion won at its headquarters in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, at 4 p.m. on the 30th. The highlight of this auction is an album containing 207 newspaper illustrations by 61 different artists, originally published in The Seoul Shinmun between 1956 and 1959. The estimated price range for the album is between 260 million and 400 million won.

This album was compiled by a collector who gathered newspaper illustrations and recorded the artist's name below each work. Among the 207 items, five are greeting cards, and 120 have been verified as having been published in newspapers. It includes various forms of newspaper illustrations from that period: in some cases, the artist provided both the text and the illustration; in others, an illustration accompanies another writer's article; and there are also stand-alone artworks published independently from articles. As for works with confirmed dates, there are 47 pieces from 1956, 38 from 1957, 47 from 1958, and 15 from 1959.

Seobo Park, Untitled, 1959. Ink on paper, 19.5×25.5 cm. A newspaper illustration showing the young Seobo Park's sense of form, included in a collection of 207 pieces. K Auction

The roster of featured artists is also noteworthy, with 61 participants including Park Sookeun, Jang Wookjin, Kim Kichang, Park Raehyun, Seobo Park, Kim Changyeul, Lee Ungno, and Chun Kyungja. This collection offers a rare opportunity to view early works by artists who sought new formal languages—breaking away from the academicism centered on the National Art Exhibition and instead participating in groups such as Baekwoohoe, the Modern Art Association, the Contemporary Artists Association, and the Sinhohyungpa movement.

The illustrations exhibit a wide spectrum of styles, ranging from figurative landscapes, portraits, and still lifes to semi-abstract and geometric abstraction inspired by nature, as well as ink-and-wash paintings and pen drawings. K-Auction emphasized that, given the scarcity of surviving physical works from the late 1950s, the collection holds significant art historical and academic value, as it allows for examination of the masters' formal experiments and transformations.

Daewon Lee, "Farm (Pear Blossom)", 1996. This work is one of the farm series that Daewon Lee created over 30 years since establishing his studio at a farm in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in 1973. The distinctive feature of this piece is the independently layered primary color dots. Currently, a large-scale retrospective of the artist is being held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Deoksugung. K Auction

Works by other artists of modern Korean art will also be auctioned. Risuk Chang's “In Front of the Gate” (1972) carries an estimated price between 5 million and 20 million won, while Youngsun Park’s “Model” is expected to fetch between 8 million and 30 million won. Additional works going under the hammer include “Still Life B” by Hakjin Moon, “Landscape” by Yumsu Hwang, “Woman” by Okyeon Kwon, and “To Ssanggyesa” by Goseok Park.

Also up for auction are works by Daewon Lee and Do Ho Suh, who are currently exhibiting at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Daewon Lee’s “Farm (Pear Blossom)” (1996) is estimated at 190 million to 280 million won, while Do Ho Suh’s “Floor Module” (1997–2000) is valued between 360 million and 600 million won. The ‘Floor’ series, in which small PVC figures support a glass pane, is a signature body of work by Do Ho Suh, exploring the relationships between individuals, collectives, and space.

Do Ho Suh, 'Floor Module', 1997~2000, detailed view. This representative 'Floor' series by Do Ho Suh, who has explored the relationship between the individual and the group, features small PVC figures of different races and genders supporting glass panels. His solo exhibition is currently held at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. K Auction

The auction lots will be on free public display at the K-Auction gallery from September 19 to September 30. The exhibition will remain open throughout the Chuseok holiday without any closure. During this period, a premium online auction centered on items seized by the National Tax Service will also be held, with the first round featuring 71 luxury bags, jewelry, and watches from brands such as Gucci, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Hermès.

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