Tschang-Yeul Kim: Untitled (Wassertropfen)

Tschang-Yeul Kim: Untitled (Wassertropfen)
KIM, TSCHANG-YEUL
1929 Miangsan/Korea - 2021 Seoul/South Korea

Title: Untitled (Wassertropfen).
Date: 1975.
Technique: Oil on Canvas.
Measurement: 41.5 x 33cm.
Notation: Signed and dated lower right: T. Kim 75.

We would like to thank Mr Oan Kim, the artist's son, for his kind scholarly assistance.

Provenance:
- Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia

- Iconic work by one of Korea's most important contemporary painters
- Finest attention to detail and photorealistic representation create the illusion of three-dimensionality
- Reflects the artist's exploration of Far Eastern philosophy and Western conceptual art


Seoul – New York – Paris
Tschang-Yeul Kim is one of Korea's most important contemporary artists and is internationally renowned for his works featuring water droplets. Born in 1929 in Japanese-occupied North Korea, the artist grew up during the turmoil of the Korean War, which had a lasting impact on his art. After studying at the College of Fine Arts in Seoul, Chang-Yeul Kim moved to New York in the 1960s, where he was strongly influenced by Pop Art. He later settled in Paris, where he created the iconic water droplets that remain his trademark to this day. Until his death in 2021, Chang-Yeul Kim devoted himself to this motif for over five decades, which had not only aesthetic but also therapeutic significance for him in coming to terms with the traumatic experiences of war. As one of the most influential Korean contemporary artists, he not only wrote art history in Asia, but is also represented in numerous important art collections in the Western world today.



Water Drop
The work on offer, from 1975, shows a single drop of water that seems to emerge from the beige canvas and flow downwards. The drop is painted with astonishing detail, which appears almost photorealistic and creates the illusion of three-dimensionality. This technique is reminiscent of the tradition of illusionistic painting ("trompe l'oeil"), which aims to mislead the viewer by depicting the painted objects so realistically that they are mistaken for real objects. However, the artist's serial preoccupation with the element of water also reflects his affinity with Far Eastern philosophy. Water is the flowing element of transformation – always constant and yet constantly changing. Water is transparent and formless. It only becomes visible through light, shadow and reflections, which raises the question: what is reality and what is illusion?


Estimated shipping costs for this lot:
Arrangement after the auction.



Explanations to the Catalogue

Tschang-Yeul Kim
Korea
Figurative Painting
Acoustic Art
Contemporary Art
Post War
1970s
Water
Painting
Oil