September 2021
Girls with calves
A 1996 ink painting 129 x 193 cm. Bucolic scene with two studentson their way to or from school having a jolly time with the local livestock. Likely to be a co-operative farm in the highlands
Afarmhand dressed in white ‘medical’ looking clothes to demonstrate the care and hygiene showed for the livestock productions. She is not wearing a pin of the leader Kim Il Sung as these are work clothes. The tractor signifies modernization (much press of the time was made of the DPRK made tractor) and a full load of milk churns represents the success of the farm. Koreans tend to drink more milk than their Chinese counterparts and policies right up to the 2000’s to increase milk delivery to children is seen of vital importance. Koreans value the supply of soybean milk to the extent that they did not stop the children’s soybean milk meal service even during the “Arduous March”. This is due to its high nutrition that ensures children are getting enough calcium. In North Korea, bean milk delivery vehicles are called “Wang Cha”(King Vehicle). This is because bean milk delivery trucks receive special treatment and can run regardless of truck-restricted areas in downtown Pyongyang.
The painting centres on the standing girl as she gazes towards a bright future- the power of this is emphasized by the other two characters gazing admiringly up at her as if she had just given a passionate speech about the beauty and richness of pastoral life, under the wise guidance of the leader no doubt.
Similar ‘joy of the country’ themes can be seen again and again for example in this espousing the love of chasing after goats well, at least rearing them.
This art piece is from the Koryo Studio collection and will be exhibited in our proposed gallery in Tuscany – contact us for details. We commission North Korean artists to produce works outside the confines of their studio briefs, do please have a look at: (link to original art for sale)
2) Miner succeeding in task – note proud older man and girl with bouquet (170 x 135)
3) West Sea Barrage construction
Do not try this at home, consult a professional. Wind snow and bitter cold cannot stop these young worker’s going about their job with a smile on their faces, on for the joys of underwater welding.
Ink painting from 1983 (by Ri Sun Ok) Diver 183 x 121 construction of the West Sea Barrage (the costruction started in 1981 to stop flooding of the Taedong and provide more freshwater and land reclamation) as they sink the piles for the foundation. All focuses on the handsome diver with obligatory pretty girl and acolytes. Our hero looks as if he has come out of the sea having completed his work (no welding rod on his gun)
In the painting are the measurement 25 and 30 is certainly not in metres…and 52 looks like the number of the craft with what looks like a winch to lower the diver. The yellow hatted chap is in charge of the oxygen pipe and hopefully will get back to concentrating on his work or the chap preparing to go underwater will be go red in his face complaining – or of lack of oxygen).
The painting is created to imbue the viewer with the scene of the brave sacrifice people are making on behalf of you and the country. The public are aware of the scale of the project but the artist endeavours to provides a personal insight into its construction. It is a romanticised look at what is genuinely an incredible engineering feat, and whilst the theme is of teamwork the central character is there to show if you work hard you will win admiration from girls and praise from older men.
Artists are sent out from the studios to paint these large infrastructure projects and their finished works are then shown in public exhibitions.
In a 2021 photograph from DPRK of a construction site for 10,000 flats the artists preparatory sketchwork is actually exhibited on site during construction.
For the commission of Koryo Studio’s 2011 ‘Ship Building’ the artists were sent to the coast for their preparatory work. On returning to the studio they might refer to photographs they took or reference books (like scrap books they piece together of relevant subject matter ). The only works we managed to get out from the country for this project are here.
If you want an idea of how difficult it can be to commission work have a read here.
This art piece is from the Koryo Studio collection and will be exhibited in our proposed gallery in Tuscany – contact us for details. We commission North Korean artists to produce works outside the confines of their studio briefs, do please have a look at: (link to original art for sale)
