Park Soo-Keun's paintings are unique. Small, somber, and roughly textured, they are at first glance unassuming and unpretentious. But it is these very qualities, combined with the abstract, simplified rendering of his idyllic subject matter--traditional country scenes--that give his works their power and poetry. Here, one woman carries a grey basket on her head while another works beside her thatched-roof house. The orange of her chogori (jacket) and of the cockerel are spots of bright color in a painting that is otherwise deliberately muted and modest.

The artist was born in Yang Gu in Kangwon province. After graduating from his local high school in 1932, he participated in "Sun" exhibitions in Seoul until 1944. From 1953 to 1964 his work was shown in the "National" exhibitions in Seoul. His work has been shown in many exhibitions of modern art in San Francisco, New York, Tokyo and Seoul.
Four paintings by Park Soo-Keun have been sold in these rooms, "Farmers", on April 27, 1993, lot 45, "Dancers" on November 17, 1993, lot 121, "Women beneath a tree" on April 27, 1994, lot 101, and "Country village" on October 25, 1994, lot 78.