The self-portrait is not only the means to convey the outward appearance of painters, but also the methods to express the inside appearance of them. The painters paint the self-portrait as the self-examination or identity confirmation. Through those p...
The self-portrait is not only the means to convey the outward appearance of painters, but also the methods to express the inside appearance of them. The painters paint the self-portrait as the self-examination or identity confirmation. Through those paintings, they define themselves.
This article broadly studies the self-portrait at the modern times in Korea. From 18th century to 1940's, it observes the development process and features of the self-portrait, and then studies the features of painters' self-consciousness in different times which shows in the self-portrait. In this process, the main points of views are the background and the items showed in the self-portrait. The background and the items are the most important images to reflect painters' complicated inner world.
Korean self-portrait has been developed according to the circumstances of the times having the distinctive features. Traditional Indian ink self-portrait emerged in the 18th and 19th century showed far out expression and composition of painting such as cutting the part of hat or placing a person above the picture.
Moreover, as accepting the changing features of the self-portrait at that times, the background and the item were placed in the self-portrait.
Overall, the first self-portrait in oils in 1910's was in the primitive level. However, it accomplished introduction of dailiness and expression of painters' inner world. In 1920's, the self-portrait in oils started to be painted by many painters, but ego investigation or personality was not prominent.
In 1930's, as painters' inner investigation was strengthened and the various kinds of experimental paintings were designed to express painters' inner world, the modern self-portrait started to be established. There were three features of the self-portrait at that times. First, painters started to have interest on inner investigation through the new style such as a self-portrait repeated cultivation or duplication self-portrait. Second, they used the background and the item like a studio or painting box to express the painters' identity. Third, painters expressed their self-consciousness using the unique quality of oil paintings or the brush touch.
In 1940s, painters used the background more often and they put a various symbolic meaning into the background. In addition, since painters' daily lives as well as social and historical meaning were reflected in the self-portrait, Korean modern self-portraits were extended and strengthened.
With the knowledge of study above, the background and the item are studied in the aspect of their changing features. In addition, the self-consciousness of painters is also studied. The background and the item are summarized up like below; ① 18th to 19th century: the primitive interest on the background and the item ② 1910s to 1920s: the new difficulties related to the background and the item ③ 1930s: the general appearance of the background and the item ④ 1940s: the enlarged background and the diverse and symbolized item. Especially, the portion of a person in a picture had decreased in 1940s and the portion of the background had increased. The background came to be very important as the meaningful factor.
Moreover, it could be confirmed that the representative self-portraits from 18th century to 1940s held the inconsistent background and items. Such inconsistent factors could be considered as scholars' symbol in the 18th and 19th century and as traditional factors and new, modern factors.
The features reflected on the background and the item were the result of showing a painter's circumstances and their suffering.
That painters' consciousness was ① 18th to 19th century: the suffering to pursue scholars' pure consciousness, ② 1910s to 1920s: the suffering as the first generation western style painter between traditional and new way. ③ 1930s: the suffering to build up painters' consciousness as western and traditional painters ④ 1940s: the suffering of being historical and routine existence.
While the self-consciousness of painters in 18th and 19th century pursue the scholar's pure consciousness, the conflict between traditional and modern style paintings was in the middle of the suffering. Especially, with inconsistent and contradictory factors, the modern self-portraits from the 1910 to 1940s presented the painters' conflicted self-consciousness caused by distorted modernization such as colonial times and divided country. These inconsistent and contradictory factors in the background and the item expressed painters' complicated inner world. Thus, it helped to develop the modernized self-portrait.