BREAKING NEWS
Cloud Server Hosting For Online Businesses
Inexpensive SEO Services
Benefits of Wanting to play Free Online Slot machines
Yu Geun-Hyeong

Summary

Yu Geun-Hyeong (유근형 ; 柳根瀅), pen name Haegang, (April 5, 1894 – January 20, 1993) was a master Korean ceramist and played the leading role in the revival of Goryeo celadon.[1][2]

His name is also written as Ryu, Yu Geun-Hyeong, Yu Kun-hyong, Yoo Geun-hyung, Yoo Keun-Hyeong. The studio name is written as Haegang or Hae-Gang.

Biography edit

Yu Geun-Hyeong was born in Seoul and attended Boseong Middle School.[3] After graduation, and during much of his first 50 years, Korea was under Japanese rule. In 1911, he began his career as a potter at the Hanyang Koryo Ceramics Factory located in Shindang-dong, Seoul. The factory was owned and operated by a firm in Japan. As a consequence it is likely many of his most early works were shipped to Japan and sold to the consumer market. He honed his skills by moving around as an engineer at ceramics factories across the country that were mainly run by Japanese, in cities such as Jinnampo , Hoeryeong , Geumgyo , Geumhwa, and Punggi .[4]

Early in his career, Yu established a friendship with at least one of the Japanese brothers Noritaka and Takumi Asakawa.[5] The Asakawa brothers were two early advocates for traditional Korean ceramics. Noritaka reportedly surveyed 700 sites of old kilns, recovered and classified an enormous quantity of ceramic artifacts.[6] Likely, Yu's association with the Asakawa brothers introduced him to many artifacts which Yu learned to reproduce. His association may also have led to a reported trip to Japan in 1921 to further his studies.[5]

Some sources on the Internet credit Yu with rediscovering how to make Goryeo celadon glazed ceramic pieces in the 1920s.[7] However, there is significant doubt that Yu deserves this credit. According to Professor Woo of the Department of Ceramics and Glass, Hongik University College and Fine Arts Curator, Korea Modern Celadon credit for that discovery should be attributed to a Japanese industrialist Tomita Gisaku.[8] Gisaku established Tomita Co. Ltd., in the town of Nampo in South P'yong'an Province (now North Korea) in 1908. Since this was right around the same time Yu's career began, it may be more accurate to claim that during Yu's long career he devoted himself to relearning how to accurately reproduce ancient Goryeo wares. Further, that Yu's experimentation with kiln design, and clay types in the 1920's played an essential role in bringing the art form back from extinction.[9]

Another essential player in bringing back Goryeo wares was Japanese tourism and the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Seoul. Mitsukoshi opened its first subbranch office in Seoul in 1906.[10] Tourist guidebooks and pamphlets introduced Mitsukoshi’s Koryo˘-style celadon and as one of the best indigenous local products that Japanese tourists should shop for when visiting Korea. Further, Mitsukoshi sponsored exhibitions featuring Korean ceramic artists in both their Korean stores and Japanese stores.

In 1928, Yu's celadon works were entered into the Chugai Industrial Exhibition, held in Beppu City Japan, April 1 - May 5, 1928. He took the gold medal.[11]

He dedicated himself to the restoration of the celadon genre, working first at the Songbuk kiln at the Korea Arts and Culture Research Center at the Kansong Art Museum in 1954, and later at the Korean Formal Arts Research Center in Taebang-dong.[12] In the 1960s, he built his own kiln in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do.

According to dates he incorporated into some of his works supplied into the Japanese market, he continued working well into his 90's. He devoted his life to researching celadon across the country and resurrecting Goryeo celadon (청자장 ; 磁匠 ; Cheongjajang).

The name of his studio was Haegang (해강 ; 海剛), which was located in Gyeonggi Province outside Seoul.

He established the Haegang Research Institute in Shindun-myeon, Icheon in 1960, using the many materials he had collected over his decades of research in the field.

He was honored by the government as a Living National Treasure as holder of Intangible Cultural Property No.13 of Gyeonggi Province.[13]

In 1988 he held a father/son exhibition at the department store Nakago (now out of business) in Fukushima City Japan with his oldest son Yu Kwang-Ryeol (also written as Yoo / Yu Kwang-yul / Kwangyul / Gwang-yeol / Gwangyeol) (유광렬 ; 柳光烈).

He founded the Haegang Pottery Art Gallery in 1990 in collaboration with his oldest. His son serves as the director of the Haegang Ceramics Museum. A film of the artist can be found here - YouTube.

  • The museum website can be found here: Haegang Ceramics Museum
  • A film illustrating the museum's collection can be found: Haegang Ceramics Museum - YouTube

His work was documented in the film Koryo Celadon in 1979, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.[14][15]

His work is held in public collections, including The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (object number 1992.232) and The British Museum (object number 1992,0623.1-2)

His two sons followed in their father's footsteps, devoting their craft to the development of traditional Korean ceramics.

Works edit

During his many decades Yu produced a great number of ceramic works including:

  • Pre-celadon works.
  • Everyday celadon wares like cups, teapots, and bowels for the local Korean market
  • Decorative celadon wares for sale at exhibitions, many of which took place in Japan
  • Large works of celadon for display at exhibitions
  • Reproductions of Korean National Treasures
  • Innovative works especially large reticulated vases

Many of his most important works can be found within museums including the British Museum and of course the museum he founded with his son.

Signature edit

Yu applied his signature to his celadon works mainly using a black inlaid slip. Sometimes it is found on the bottom of the piece and sometimes near the foot. If the base isn't coated in celadon glaze, it is usually signed in white. His son Kwang-yeol Yoo uses a nearly identical signature with an extra two dots below. The two extra dots in that signature may represent Yu's two sons that also took up the production of celadon wares. See external links showing signature on work at the Smithsonian Museum containing the two extra dots.

External links edit

Video showing Yu at work: Koryo Celadon,1979 - YouTube

Smithsonian Museum ceramic dish signed by Kwang-yeol Yoo showing two extra dots in signature


Further reading edit

  • J Portal, 'Korea, Art and Archaeology', British Museum Publications, 2000.
  • Koryo celadon: The Autobiography of Haegang, Yoo, Keun-Hyeong, 1984.[16]
  • Koreana, 1991. Vol 5, No 3. Page 68.

References edit

  1. ^ "Haegang Pottery Museum". www.lifeinkorea.com. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  2. ^ Suh, Kyung Yoon (June 4, 1999). "How One Korean Rediscovered An Art Form and Lost a Market". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "≪인터넷저널≫ 장인의 혼 머금은 해강 도자미술관". 인터넷저널. 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. ^ "유근형", 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전 (in Korean), 2023-09-20, retrieved 2024-01-29
  5. ^ a b "고려청자 기술을 복원한 해강 유근형 작가 알아보자!". 네이버 블로그 | 한국도자재단 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  6. ^ Tamashige, Sachiko (2011-08-25). "Japanese brothers who championed Korean ceramics". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  7. ^ "한옥션/문화예술 종합경매". hanauction.com. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  8. ^ Digital Ceramics Museum. "Exploring Contemporary Korean Celadon". Yingge Ceramics Museum, New Taipei City Taiwan.
  9. ^ Nilsen, Robert (2009). South Korea. Moon Handbooks. ISBN 9781598800593.
  10. ^ Oh, Younjung (17 October 2022). "The paradox of authenticity: The Korean Product Showroom of Mitsukoshi department store in colonial Seoul" (PDF). Modern Asian Studies, Cambridge Press.
  11. ^ www.bibliopolis.com. "Chugai Sangyo Hakurankai by Yoshida HATSUSABURO on Ursus Books, Ltd". Ursus Books, Ltd. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  12. ^ Kon, Choi (1991). "Korea's Modern Ceramic Art". Koreana. 5 (3): 68.
  13. ^ "Yu Geun-Hyeong 유근형 柳根瀅 (Haegang 해강 海剛) (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "Koryo Celadon (1979)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2008.
  15. ^ "Koryo Celadon (1979)". IMDb. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  16. ^ Yoo, Keun-Hyeong (1984). Koryo celadon: the autobiography of Haegang, Yoo, Keun-Hyeong. Seoul: Hong Ik Jae. OCLC 923482981.