Dansaekhwa

The definitive book on Korean abstract art and its aesthetic influence and cultural legacy

Most commonly referred to as Dansaekhwa ('monochrome painting'), this major abstract art movement in postwar South Korea in fact pushed the boundaries of painting – and color – outside the canvas into fields that included drawing, craft, sculpture, installation, and conceptual and experimental art.

Dansaekhwa: Korean Abstract Art and its Cultural Impact celebrates the movement’s aesthetic legacy. Richly illustrated and comprehensive in scope, this exciting book surveys Dansaekhwa’s canon-defining artists – both established and pioneering figures – detailing their work within the wider cultural climate of postwar South Korea and the international art world at large.

Author Dr. Yeon Shim Chung presents critical examinations of significant Dansaekhwa artists, including Park Seo-Bo, Lee Ufan, Ha Chong-Hyun, Kim Tschang-Yeul, and Yun Hyong-keun, and examines how the movement crystallized through the influence of art critics both within and outside of Korea. A final chapter provocatively asks, in the tradition of Linda Nochlin, 'Why have there been no great women Dansaekhwa artists?', revealing that artists such as Chin Ohc Sun, Lee Chungji, and Yoon Miran, as well as later generation artists including Seundja Rhee and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, were highly influential in the mostly male-dominated movement.

Featuring more than 250 beautifully reproduced images of artworks and archival materials, Dansaekhwa is a timely, essential guide to understanding Korean abstract art and its international impact.

Yeon Shim Chung is Professor of Art History and Theory at Hongik University in Seoul. An expert on modern and contemporary Korean art history, she received her Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and is the author and co-editor of Korean Art from 1953 (2020) and The Making of Modern Korean Art (2025).