Introduction

 Figure

Consisting mainly of dark colored paintings of beautiful women at first, Woljeon's portraits shifted to color and ink paintings characterized by simple lines following the Liberation. By thus rendering the lines simple and straight, his works established the "new literati painting" style, which combined the refined form of literati paintings and a modem sensibility. Starting in the 1980's, the artist created portraits that likewise reflected the spirit and elegance of literati paintings, thus embodying his subjective meaning. In his late years, from 2000 and onward, Woljeon exhibited his disinterested critique of contemporary reality through works that satirized the way of the world with simple, sketch-like brushstrokes. View

 Flowers, Birds and Animals

Following the Liberation, Woljeon's Paintings of flowers and birds/paintings of animal's shifted from the earlier, brightly colored works based on close observation to those with plain colors and simple lines that sought to depict the key characteristics of the subject matters. Later, the artist diversified the subject matters to create paintings not only of flowers and birds and of the "four gentlemen"(plum trees, orchids, bamboos, and chrysanthemums) in the literati painting style but also Catfish, Owi, Chinese Cabbage, and Crows as well as those such as Polluted Zone and Bull Frog, which embodied his earnest reflections on contemporary issues. View

 Landscape

Woljeon's landscapes add his subjective meaning to sketches of actual sceneries, From brightly colored works that made most use of the blank space, he went on to mainly ink paintings that converted objective landscapes info subjective ones and incorporated subject matters from traditional literati painting., Woljeon's landscapes are characterized by sensuous colors, refreshing layout, and a combination of realistic subject matters and a high degree of intuition. View

 Abstract

Woljeon also developed traditional images of nature into a semi-abstract form by rendering them flat or reconstructing them. (1987) represents an abstract concept by depicting the gate of hell. (1999) portrays in a stroke the climate. Red Tide and White Fish(2003) expresses through white dots on a red background the annihilation of fish due to the ravages of civilization. Through colors, lines, and ideas, Woljeon elevated the world of the serene and direct contemplation of objects through ideas to one of semi-abstraction. View

 Pencil / Charcoal Drawing

월전은 스승인 이당 김은호 (以堂 金殷鎬)의 영향을 받아 분명하게 잡힌 형태를 사실적인 데생에 의해 나타내고자 하였다. 낙청헌의 기본 학습 내용인 화조사생과 풍속인물화는 기본적인 형태감과 묘사력을 기를 수 있도록 도움을 주었다. 그 영향은 이후 인물화, 문인화 작업을 하는데 있어 탄탄한 묘사의 기반이 되었다. <연꽃>, <권금성>, <수선>, <매화> 등에서 모두 탁월한 묘사력을 보이고 있으며 특히 인물영정의 밑그림 등에서 놀랍도록 세밀한 필치를 발휘하였다. View

 Calligraphy

Thanks to his childhood education in classical Chinese and his study under Seongdang Kim Don-hui, the best practitioner of traditional East Asian calligraphy in Korea at the time, Woljeon boasted a style that was strict, refined, and concentrated in force with each stroke, thus making him a true master of the three sister arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. His paintings are characterized by intuition based on close examination of the subject matters, ability freely to use and to realize subject matters in classical paintings, and elegant brushstrokes appropriate to the space and the object. from A Slave of Painting, homage to Wu Chanshuo's seal engraving, to Orchids, a work created in the master's old age, Woljeon reinterpreted the world of the Shanghai School of the Qing Dynasty and exhibited keen disinterested criticism of the contemporary era through subject matters that were realistic and relevant. View