IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF KOREAN PAINTING IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF KOREAN PAINTING IN THE EARLY DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: This paper attempts to compile the results of Korean and Western research onKorean paintings of the beginnings of the 20th century and analyze it using thetheory of the ideological function of art. The main assumption is that Koreanpaintings of that time – their creation, as well as reception by audiences and crit-ics – was influenced by the need to shape the national identity of Korean peopleand find a uniform way to represent it in art. The paper opens with an explana-tion of societal dimensions of art and its ideological role in particular. Attentionis also given to the way art can influence shaping the national identity duringtimes of difficulties. In later parts of the paper this identity-shaping lens is usedto analyze the world of Korean painting, its main figures and their body of work,as well as the way ‘local colors’ were expressed through them.

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