Page 149 - Korean Buncheong Ceramics, Samsung Museum Collection (great book)

Postscript

The three twentieth-century Korean paintings on the following pages highlight the kinds of intuitive
visual connections to buncheong that one finds in modern art — not surprising, given the bold
immediacy of that ceramic genre. The vigorous black strokes crossing the breadth of the canvas on
Lee Jong-Sang’s (b. 1938) 90-23 Earth (cat. 74) might instantly remind us of the dynamic iron-painted
buncheong ware (see cat. 53). Palpable in both works are a vibrant energy and a keen appreciation
for abstraction. Heaven and Earth (24-IX-73#320) (cat. 75) by Kim Whan-Ki (1913–1974), who worked
in New York from 1965 until his death, is a tour de force of the artist’s signature style: from the
repeating pattern of tiny dots covering the entire surface of the large canvas emerges a striking
abstract design, reminiscent of buncheong with stamped decoration (see cat. 9). The feathery and
lush brushstrokes dancing on Lee Ufan’s (b. 1936) From Point (cat. 76) provide a tactile experience
not unlike the sensuous brushed white slip on buncheong ware (see cat. 36). These artists were not
necessarily consciously evoking the earlier Korean tradition; indeed they may not have made the
connections at all. Nonetheless, the visual resonance is undeniable, attesting to the power and
relevance of the art of buncheong ceramics.

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