The Life and Art of Seund Ja Rhee

Seund Ja Rhee lived a life defined by a constant, restless making. She was a South Korean painter, engraver, draughtswoman, and illustrator who moved between the traditions of her birth and the influences of her adopted home. Her hands were rarely still, working through various mediums to find a way to express what she saw. This output was immense. She produced more than 1,000 paintings and 700 prints, alongside 250 ceramics and a vast collection of drawings. Her work was not limited to the canvas; she also designed mosaics and worked with woven materials to create large-scale pieces.

The sheer volume of her work reflects a commitment to the act of creation itself. She did not stick to a single method, instead moving between the precision of engraving and the fluidity of painting. In her later years, she built the "Milky Way," a large atelier and exhibition room in the Korean style, which served as a space for her continued practice. This space allowed her to maintain a connection to her roots while living in the French Riviera. Her career was a long, steady process of translating thought into physical form, whether through the grit of a woodcut or the shape of a ceramic vessel.

Early Life, Family and Training

Born on June 3, 1918, in Jinju, Keishōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan, Seund Ja Rhee began her life in a landscape shaped by shifting borders. Her early education took place at Jinju Girls' High School. By 1938, she had moved to Tokyo to attend Jissen Women's University. It was during this period that she married and returned home to Korea.

The year 1951 brought a sharp fracture to her domestic life. During the Korean War, she was separated from her three sons. This period of upheaval preceded her departure for Paris. In 1953, she entered the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where she studied under Yves Brayer and Henri Goetz. This formal training in France provided the technical foundation for the decades of work that followed.

Artistic Activity in France

After leaving for Paris in 1951, her life became centered around the French landscape. She spent years studying the fundamentals of painting, eventually finding a permanent place in the south. In 1958, she moved to Tourrettes-sur-Loup on the French Riviera. There, she worked within a stone shepherd's cottage that served as her atelier. This space provided a quiet setting for the development of her practice, which included oil painting, printmaking, and ceramics.

The physical space of her work evolved alongside her years in the country. In 1996, she built the "Milky Way" in Tourrettes-sur-Loup. This larger atelier was constructed in a Korean style, bringing a specific architectural language to her French surroundings. Her presence in the French art scene was recognized in 1991 when she was appointed a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Technique and Artistic Style

Her work often moves through the quiet space of decorative abstraction. She relies on geometric patterns and a palette of discreet colors to build her compositions. There is a recurring attempt to marry the formative arts with literature, creating a dialogue between visual form and written meaning. This connection is often made through the inclusion of Korean symbols and script, which she integrates directly into the surface of her pieces.

The foundation of her visual language rests on the Eastern philosophical concept of yin and yang. This balance informs how she organizes her space and handles her materials. Her practice was not limited to a single medium; she worked across a wide range of disciplines. She used woodcuts, engraving, and woodblock prints, alongside Western painting techniques. Her hands also shaped pottery, and she worked with mosaic and various textile methods.

In her later years, her brushwork underwent a shift. The bold, expressionistic strokes of her earlier period began to dismantle into tiny, meticulous strokes. These small marks eventually formed distinct color planes. This change reflected a movement toward works that addressed experiences specific to women, using the physical act of painting to explore deeper conceptual layers.

Exhibitions and Recognition

Her presence in the art world was marked by a steady rhythm of shows, primarily split between France and South Korea. Throughout her life, she held 84 solo exhibitions and participated in almost 300 group exhibitions. These displays allowed her to bridge the distance between her two primary homes. In 1965, she was introduced to Korean audiences for the first time, a moment that helped connect her practice back to her roots. Later, she held several solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) in 1970, 1978, and 1988.

The recognition of her life and work extended beyond the gallery walls. In 1991, she was appointed a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. Even in the digital age, her influence remains visible; on 3 June 2016, Google celebrated her 98th birthday with a doodle. This gesture acknowledged a life spent working between different cultures and mediums.

Legacy and Institutional Presence

The preservation of her work continues through the Seundja Rhee Foundation, which was established in Korea in 2009. This organization works to keep her art accessible and to promote her creative history. Her presence is felt in several major collections across different countries, where her paintings and prints are held in permanent view.

Her pieces are held in the National Museum of Modern Art Paris and the Center Pompidou. In Asia, her work is part of the collections at the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo. She is also represented in the Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana. These locations hold the physical traces of her decades of work in painting, printmaking, and ceramics.