Nam Kwan

Nam Kwan (1911-1990) was born in Chung-song, Kyung-buk, and moved to Japan when he was fourteen. He graduated from the Taiheiyo Art School and later studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts.  After independence of Korea, Nam settled in Seoul and helped form the Joseon Art and Culture Association with artists such as Lee Quede, Lee In-Sung and Lee Gyu-Sang. Their annual member exhibition’s showed remarkable ability and his first solo exhibition in Korea was held in 1949. Upon his return to Japan in the early 1950s, Nam was profoundly influenced by the first edition of the Japan International Art Exhibition (later to be referred to as the Tokyo Biennale) and the Salon de Me Tokyo exhibition in Paris that ultimately led Nam to move to France in 1954 to continue his studies.

Nam’s unique style is expressed in a harmonious fusion of materials belonging to the ancient civilizations of the East via Western and modern methods. Nam focused on the expression of human integrity and value rather than visible things. Values such as human happiness or eternal life are interpreted as refined and sophisticated colors and human images are expressed in the shape of hieroglyphic characters.

Nam Kwan’s exhibition have been held in various art museums and galleries including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, Tokyo Art Expo, Sao-Paulo Biennale and Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. In 1942 and 1943 he won the Funoke Prize and Mitsui Prize in Japan and was honored at the Biennale de Peinture in Menton in 1966. In Korea, he was awarded the Chun-gok Art Prize in 1967.

Nam’s artworks are in the public collections of numerous global institutions including the Musée National d’Art Moderne France, Musée d'art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean Luxembourg, Torino Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, and the Museum of Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne.