‘24m masterpiece landscape painting with Indian ink’ created by the top painter, poet and calligrapher in the 1970s
Painter Min Gyeong-gap passed away recently leaving this as the only piece worked on by three masters
Recently restored and reproduced after 48 years since being exhibited at YU... Samil Spinning Co. Chairman Noh Hee-chan paid for entire cost
[January 11, 2019]
[<Nakdonggang-Cheollido> (original) put on display at the YU Central Library Reading Room 2]
<Nakdonggang-Cheollido>, a masterpiece by Yusan Min Gyeong-gap (1933-2018), a master of traditional Korean painting, will once again see the world.
<Nakdonggang-Cheollido> is a massive Indian ink landscape painting with a length of 2,360cm and width of 105cm and is currently possessed by YU. It contains the 510km long Nakdonggang (Riv.) and its surrounding scenery from the source of Nakdonggang to the Nahmhae estuary in a total of nine paintings.
YU possessed this piece since 1970 and it recently completed restorations and reproductions. This process took a whole six months. The restored original was put on display at the YU Central Library, while the replicas were hung at the YU Cheonma Art Center (Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk) and the YU Medical Center Respiratory Center (Daemyeong-dong, Daegu).
In particular, this painting was a collaboration of the most famous painter, poet and calligrapher at the time. The painting was completed by Min Gyeong-gap, and the ‘Nakdonggang’ poem made by Nosan Lee Eun-sang (1903-1982) was written at the brush of calligrapher Iljung Kim Chung-hyeon (1921-2006). Poet Lee Eun-sang is Korea’s most noted sijo poet who wrote Gagopa, Dongmu Saenggak, and Bomcheonyeo. Calligrapher Kim Chung-hyeon left behind his works in the April 19 Memorial Tower and Declaration of Independence and has been assessed to have played a leading role in spreading calligraphy in Hangul. With the death of Min Gyeong-gap on December 30 of last year, <Nakdonggang-Cheollido> became the only piece that was collaborated on by these three masters of arts.
[<Nakdonggang-Cheollido> (replica) on display at the Cheonma Art Center lobby]
Art critic Shin Hang-seop said, “It is very rare to see a masterpiece going beyond a single page in Indian ink landscape paintings. The ‘Gangsan-Mujindo’ by the famous Kim Hong-do and Lee In-mun in the late Joseon Dynasty is evaluated as an unparalleled masterpiece spanning across 8.6 meters. Since then, there were no Indian ink landscape paintings that were even comparable to it.” He went on saying, “The <Nakdonggang-Cheollido> was an incident that rewrote the history of Indian ink landscape painting in Korea. It not only had an overwhelming scale, but it is also surprising as it depicts real scenery and not a conceptual world. It also has an unconventional structure that shakes the very roots of concepts of existing landscape paintings as it follows the 390km long Nakdonggang and gives a panoramic view of its surrounding scenery.
The <Nakdonggang-Cheollido> contains the ambitious vision and hopes of YU back in the 1970s when it was aiming to build a global campus. This masterpiece was first unveiled during an exhibit held at the YU Daemyeong-dong Campus Library in April 1970. In August 1976, it was moved to the west wing of Reading Room 3 of the Central Library of Gyeongsan Campus, which was a main symbol of YU. In February 2005, upon the completion of the renovation of the Central Library, it was moved to its current location at the northern part of Reading Room 2.
[<Nakdonggang-Cheollido displayed at the Central Library Reading Room 3 in 1981]
The existence of this masterpiece was not well known until now. There were even some within YU that did not know about this. However, in November 2017, YU President Sur Gil-soo noticed the artistic value and meaning of the <Nakdonggang-Cheollido> and so it was restored and preserved under his lead.
YU President Sur Gil-soo said, “I believe that this work created through the collaboration of the greatest artists of the time will be a cultural asset for not only our university, but our entire country. We restored and are preserving the original and we also made replicas and placed them in areas where many people visit so that many members of our school as well as visitors can enjoy and appreciate the piece.”
Because it is an epic masterpiece stretching 24 meters long, it was difficult not only in the restoration work, but also finding the right spot to put it on display. It cost quite a lot too. YU alumni from the Department of Chemical Engineering class of ‘63 and current chairperson of Samil Spinning Co. Noh Hee-chan (right on photo), who has always been interested in the development of the university, happily stepped up. Once Chairman Noh announced that he would pay the entire 100 million won needed for restoration and reproduction, the restoration project began sailing smoothly. Students majoring in art preservation and restoration (School of Fine Arts) of YU also contributed to the restoration work.
In March of 2018, the <Nakdonggang Cheollido> restoration/reproduction project steering committee was organized, and the first course of action was meeting with the painter, Min Gyeong-gap in order to listen to stories behind the production of the work before conducting restoration work. Mr. Min, in his last interview in March of last year before his death, said, “The idea for this painting was made by the second YU president and former Minister of Culture and Education Lee Seon-geun. I went on a helicopter to look around Nakdonggang. Together with photographer Sung Nak-in, who was a professor at Hongik University, we traveled taking photos and making sketches for two weeks. It was such a big project that it took six months to complete. After completing the work, all I did for an entire week was sleep.”
On behalf of the late Mr. Min, his oldest song Min Ji-hong attended the unveiling ceremony in commemoration of the restoration on the 10th. Min Ji-hong said, “My father received an invitation for the unveiling ceremony before passing away last December. Despite being very ill, he said that he would attend the ceremony even if he had to do so on a wheelchair, and he showed a lot of affection for <Nakdonggang Cheollido>. I would like to thank YU on behalf of my father for letting more people see my father’s work.
YU recently held an unveiling ceremony to commemorate the restoration of <Nakdonggang Cheollido> in the lobby of the Central Library at 3 p.m. on the 10th. In attendance were Chairman Noh Hee-chan who sponsored this restoration project, Yeungnam School Foundation Chairwoman Han Jae-sook and Executive Director Kim Jin-sam, YU President Sur Gil-soo, former YU President Lee Hyo-soo, YU General Alumni Association Chairman Jung Tae-il, Korea Kolmar Chairman Yoon Dong-han, Daegu Foundation for Culture President Park Young-seok, eldest son of the late Min Gyeong-gap – Min Ji-hong, art critic Shin Hang-seop, Restoration and Reproduction Project Steering Committee Chairman Park Jong-moo, Museum Curator Jung In-sung, and YU School of Fine Arts Lim Nam-soo and College of Liberal Arts Professor Jung Doo-hee (major in art preservation and restoration) who worked on the actual restoration.
