Art, War and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Qoede
By Jinyoung Anna Jin
Published by Amsterdam University Press
Amsterdam, 2024

In recent years, Korean culture has sparked the interest of global curators, collectors, and scholars alike. From pioneering Dansaekhwa artists Park Seo-Bo and Ha Chong-Hyun to early modernists Kim Whanki and Yoo Youngkuk, a growing number of Korean names are now familiar to audiences worldwide. Last year’s 60th Venice Biennale, however, featured a painter that most visitors had never heard of: Lee Qoede (1913–65), virtually unknown outside of his homeland, whose art historical legacy has been unfairly obscured due to his defection to North Korea after the Korean War (1950–53).