EventsMember Preview: Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan

Member Preview: Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan

April 10, 2025 | 12–5 p.m.
Location: High Museum of Art
Registration Required

Kim Chong Hak (Korean, b. 1937), Moon, 2013, acrylic on canvas, courtesy of the artist, Seoul, South Korea. © Kim Chong Hak.

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Experience Kim Chong Hak, Painter of Seoraksan, the first American museum exhibition featuring the work of South Korean master painter Kim Chong Hak (born 1937, Sinuiju, Korea). Members see it first and free! On Thursday, April 10, discover this new exhibition before it opens to the public.

Kim Chong Hak first worked as an abstract painter in the 1960s. He ultimately rejected the South Korean art world’s adoption of Western-style abstraction, which he viewed as a response to national melancholy brought on by previous decades of hardship and deprivation. In the late 1970s, he settled in Gangwon Province, home of Mount Seorak. There, he sought out an alternative artistic discourse, moving away from the monochromatic painting popular in Korea at that time toward his unabashedly expressive style. He has since dedicated his life and work to interpreting the environs of Mount Seorak, developing an artistic and emotional attunement to the natural world during decades of self-imposed isolation in the mountains. Learn more about this special exhibition.

Preregistration is required. Please enter the exhibition at your designated time to prevent overcrowding in the galleries. Register by clicking the button above and logging in to your account or by calling Member Services at 404-733-4575 (Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.).