Shining on your days

OH Chiho

1905–1982 / Born in Hwasun, Korea

Oh Chiho is a first generation artist of Western painting who is called a pioneer of the Korean Impressionism in the history of Korean modern and contemporary art. He spent his childhood playing in the nature of Hwasun, located in the warm scenery of the Korean southern region. During the Japanese colonial era, he attended Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts) to learn Western painting, and with his classmates he participated in “Nokhyanghoe,” the first Korean art group. In the late 1930s, he taught art at Songdo Secondary School in Kaesong. Afterwards, he came back to his hometown and served as a professor at Chosun University in Gwangju (1949-1960). In 1948, he formed the “Gwangju Art Research Society” with Western painting artists in Gwangju, and had a great influence on laying the foundation for the Honam Western painting community. After the Korean War, he lived in Jisan-dong, Gwangju for 30 years from 1953. Oh was active in social activities such as the movement for the mixed use of Korean and Chinese characters as well as painting, and lived a patriotic life as a nationalist resisting to Japanese imperialism.

The nature of Korea depicted in clear colors are the signature of Oh’s artworks. The artist considered nature as the root of beauty and tried to express the refreshing nature of Joseon in clear and bright colors. As a suitable painting style for this, he makes use of the impressionist painting method, and he leaves the distinct painting theory in this regard through various books and writings. Especially, the vitality of nature which is reflected and revealed by light was important to him. “Painting is a relationship between the sun and life, and a blend of the sun and life. (…) Painting is the art of joy. Joy is the essence of painting. Painting is an art that can only be completed with joy.” He said as above to emphasize the vitality of radiant joy captured by the sunlight. At the time, as Western-style painting methods were widely accepted and the main stream of painting style was Impressionism. However, the reason Oh is mentioned most representatively among other artists is because he captured the nature of Korea and best applied the Impressionist painting style in the Korean way. Therefore in his works, the beautiful nature of Korea expressed in pure natural colors is well presented. Later, even when Abstract art became the main stream in the 1950s, Oh kept on painting nature to continue the theory of figurative painting, and tried to capture the vitality of nature in Korea. Oh is an artist who represents the Impressionism in the Korean art world, and at the same time remains as a giant who had a great influence on the art world of Honam region.