Pursuing Two Paths: New Direction in Korean Modern Art Studies

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Historiography of Korean modern art history is very short with only a handful of researchers. The researches have been done on the documentation of art works and individual artists, and the problem of authenticity and attribution have always been important. However, there has been shift of direction from the late 1990s when young art historians cautiously started to apply cultural theories to their researches. This was not merely an appropriation of Western theories, but a resistance to how very confining art history had become with its linear narratives of formalism, famous artists and their masterpieces; how research based on empiricism had evolved into a struggle for who gets the hand on the sources first. Their turn to post-modernistic cultural theories was supported by the fact that modern art itself rapidly arose from a transitional sphere where tradition and modernity coexisted in confusion. Also former methods of art history were not suitable for Korean modern period when there were not many works survived from the period; instead, there was a rich resource of photographs, prints, illustrations, etc, which revealed the experience and everyday life of modernity and provided a possibility of studying visual culture. Rather than renouncing formalism, these young researchers sought to open up a more diverse discourse as well as embrace new perspectives on art. Compared to traditional art history, modern art history has a shorter history with relatively fewer scholars. Since there is no solid body of scholarship as of yet, it has also proved easier to freely engage new methodologies. Another trend is that modern art history is no longer restricted to only Korean art and has expanded to include other areas of East Asia, stimulated by increase of interest in contemporary Asian art a well as the return of students who studied not only in the United States and Europe, but also Japan and China. If one recognizes that art is not merely a reflection of beauty, but more importantly, a reflection of culture, a product imbued with the consciousness of its period, then, it is true that the new methodologies have expanded the perspective and terrain of art history. Through such diverse perspectives, I think we can get a better sense of the identity of Korean modern art. Thus, Korean art history must pursue two paths at the same time: formal analysis of works of art with the excavation of primary sources ”and” the incorporation of multiple perspectives for the task of interpretation. In this paper, I will briefly address the state of research in Korean modern art history, as well as the search for new methodologies in contemporary scholarship.