배길기 裵吉基
Calligrapher; first president of the Korean Calligraphers Association
| Life | 1917년 ~ 1999년 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 분성 배씨 |
Life & career
Bae Gil-gi (裵吉基, 1917-1999) was a calligrapher who helped lay the foundation of modern Korean calligraphy. According to Wikipedia his pen name was Siam (時庵), his seat is Bunseong and he was from Gimhae in South Gyeongsang; a scholarly article writes the name as 是菴, so the characters differ by source. He graduated from the law department of Nihon University in 1941 and taught at Busan Choryang Commercial School and Gyeongnam Middle School from 1942 to 1945.
After liberation his range of activity widened. From 1952 to 1964 he was an invited artist and judge of the National Art Exhibition and served on committees of the cultural federation and the art associations; in 1953 he became head of the arts section at the Ministry of Education and in 1960 a member of the Academy of Arts. He was also the first president of the Korean Calligraphers Association. From 1952 he lectured at Dongguk University and Seoul National University's College of Fine Arts and became a Dongguk professor in 1958.
He held his first solo show in Busan in 1952 and his first in Tokyo in 1966. He is said to have favored the seal script of Qin China and taken Wang Xizhi as a model, and works such as Eumdeok Jayeon Seonyugyeong (陰德自然宣有慶) are known. A scholarly article studies his work by script type, from oracle-bone and seal to clerical, regular, running and cursive scripts and seal carving, to reconsider his place in calligraphy history (Hangukhak Nonjip, no. 61, Keimyung University).
Timeline
Graduated from Nihon University law in 1941; teacher at Choryang Commercial School and Gyeongnam Middle School 1942-1945; first Busan solo show and lectureship at Dongguk and Seoul National University in 1952; invited artist and judge of the National Art Exhibition 1952-1964; head of the arts section at the Ministry of Education in 1953; professor at Dongguk in 1958; Academy of Arts member in 1960; Tokyo solo show in 1966. Wikipedia does not give the years of his presidency of the Korean Calligraphers Association.
Grave
Not confirmed.
Descendants
Not confirmed.