Gwangju has been called the hometown of art in the Republic of Korea from old times. A number of noted artists, musicians and writers came from Gwangju or settled in the city.

Master artist of Korean painting Heo Baek-ryeon, Korea’s western painting pioneer Oh Chi-ho, pansori (Korean musical storytelling) maestro Im Bang-wool and lyric poet Kim Yong-chul are among them.

Heo Baek-ryeon

Heo Baek-ryeon (1890-1977) painted landscapes of Gwangju in the Chinese painting style of Southern School. The school cultivates a more intimate style of landscape bathed in cloud and mist.

He carried on the painting style in Korea from great calligrapher Chusa Kim Jeong-hui (1786-1856) and Sochi Heo Ryeon, Korean master of the Southern School and a student of Kim -- their pen names were Chusa and Sochi, respectively.

Heo learned Chinese classics at a private school from 1911 to 1920 and then went to Japan to study at Meiji University from 1923 to 1925. He won the second prize at the first Joseon Art Exhibition in 1922 with his painting of summer landscape.

Heo swept top prizes at the Joseon exhibitions from 1935 to 1937. He received the best artist award from South Jeolla governor in 1955 and served on the jury of the National Art Exhibition from 1955 to 1959. He became a member of the National Academy of Arts in 1959, received the Order of Cultural Merit from the government in 1962 and was honored with the Prize of the National Academy of Arts in 1966. He held his retrospective exhibition in 1973.

Heo spent his last days in a valley of Mount Mudeungsan in Gwangju.

Oh Chi-ho

Oh Chi-ho (1905-1982) is a pioneer of western painting who founded impressionism in Korea. He drew oil paintings in the style of realistic naturalism, expressing Korean nature and landscape in bright and clear colors with light brushstrokes for 10 years from 1935.

Born in Hwasun, South Jeolla Province, he moved to Tokyo to study the fine arts further after graduating from a high school in Seoul. In 1938 after returning home, he published the nation’s first collection of colored pictorials and wrote art critiques.

He settled in Gwangju in 1948, organized an association of artists, taught the fine arts at Chosun University in the city, and founded the South Jeolla provincial exhibition.

In 1956, he presented his works at the first edition of the national exhibition of art as an invited guest, and later became a juror of the exhibition.

He was admitted to the National Academy of Arts of Korea in 1976. He received the Order of Cultural Merit in 2002.

His atelier has been recreated in Dong-gu, Gwangju. There, his brushes, easels and living items are on display along with some of his drawings. His oil paintings are exhibited at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, and at the Oh Chi-ho Memorial Hall in Hwasun.

Im Bang-wool

Im Bang-wool (1904-1961) was one of the nation’s best pansori singers born in Gwangju. His gramophone single “Ssukdaemeori” sold over 1 million copies. It is one of the songs “Chunhyang” sings in jail missing her lover. “Chunhyang” is the title character of “Chunhyangjeon,” or The Story of Chunhyang, one of the best Korean classics.

His real name is Im Seung-geun. Bang-wool is his stage name, which he earned for singing pansori so well. A gifted pansori master heard him sing and praised him saying, “Your voice sounds like a silver bell, indeed.” Bang-wool is Korean for a bell.

He debuted in a pansori contest in 1929 at the age of 25. He sang “Ssukdaemeori” with strong Jeolla dialect, captivating the audience.

He was posthumously awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in 2000. A gugak festival was launched in 2003 to honor him and has since been held in Gwangju.

Park Yong-chul

Park Yong-chul (1904-1938) is a Gwangju native poet, literary critic and literature translator.

He published the first issue of a literary magazine, “Poetry Literature,” in 1930, together with his compatriot poet Kim Young-rang while studying in Japan. He also founded magazines, “Literature Monthly” in 1931 and “Literature” in 1934.

He led the genre of pure literature in Korea in the 1930s.

His birthplace is preserved in Gwangju as a local monument. Memorial stones for his magnum opus, “A Leaving Boat,” are built in Songjeong and Gwangju Parks. The poem depicts a young man’s farewell to the grim realities of Korea, a Japanese colony. The poem became popular when pop singer Kim Soo-chul sang it.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)