LEE Young-il – Country Girl
Lee, Young-il(1904-1984) studied painting in Tokyo, Japan in the 1920s. His work was accepted at the 4th Joseon Art Exhibition in 1925, and he won the special prizes five times in a row from the 6th exhibition in 1927. After Korea’s liberation from Japan, he trained many pupils, painting almost nothing.
Lee adopted Japanese-style polychrome painting, called Nihonga, which is characterized by flat depiction of figures colored in soft pastel tones, and the vague presence or absence of outlines.
Country Girl depicts that a girl has Korean traditional hair style, which is hair in a long braid, and carries a child on her back. The work presents ‘local colors’ which was a popular subject within the field of Korean art at that time. Another girl with bobbed-hair seems to glean the stalks of wheat. The red color of skirt and hair ribbon contrasts with the blue color of carrier blanket. The detailed brushstrokes and absence of outlines represent Lee’s adoption of Nihonga style.