Lee Ung-No was born in Yesan in South Chung. He studied under Haekang Kim Kyu-Jin in 1923 and held the first one-person exhibition at the Wha Shin Department in Seoul in 1939. In 1948 he joined the faculty of Hong-Ik University as professor. Between 1958 and 1973 Yi Ung-No held numerous one-man shows in Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe and was given an award at the Sao Paul Biennial in Brazil in 1965. His work was included in an Invitation exhibition at the Hoam Gallery in Seoul in 1989.