The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Umber-Black

Umber-Black

1975
(Korean, 1928–2007)
93.5 x 113 cm (36 13/16 x 44 1/2 in.)
© Yun Seong-ryeol
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The South Korean pop band BTS's RM in his solo album (released in 2022) dedicated the first track to the artist Yun Hyong-Keun.

Description

The dark pillars that extend the height of the canvas in Yun Hyong Keun's Umber-Black exemplify the type of work for which the artist was most celebrated. The composition seems simple, yet the process was long and complex. After adding layers of paint—often applying the next coat before the last one had dried—Yun diluted the pigments, allowing them to seep into the fibers of the coarse linen. According to the artist, blank spaces between the pillars evoke a pathway toward “the gate of heaven and earth.” Yet Yun’s paintings do not depict a peaceful cosmos. They were a sanctuary where Yun could escape anger toward the prevailing injustice of South Korea’s military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.
  • ?–2022
    (PKM Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2022–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Kee. Joan. Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.
    Kee, Joan. From All Sides Tansaekhwa on Abstraction. Los Angeles, CA: Blum and Poe, 2015.
  • Material and Immaterial in Korean Modern and Contemporary Art (Korean art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 28, 2023-February 25, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=Umber-Black|url=false|author=Yun Hyong-keun|year=1975|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.142