Nam Kwan was born in Chongsong, North Kyungsang Province and graduated from Taiheiyo Fine Arts School in Tokyo in 1935. He studied and taught at the Kumaoka Academy in Tokyo during the years 1937-44 and pursued his studies at Grand Chaumiere in Paris from 1955-58.

Nam Kwan had 120 one-person exhibitions in Korea, Japan, the United States, and Europe during the years 1948-90. He had one-person exhibitions at the Tongwha Gallery in Seoul from 1948-50 and in 1954 at the Midopa Gallery in Seoul. Solo shows were also held at the Galerie Transposition in Paris in 1964, and at the Galerie Mensch in Hamburg in 1966. His work was exhibited at the "Contemporary Art Exhibition" in Milan in 1983, and in 1984 at the "FIAC 84" in Paris as well as in an Invitational exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris. He received first prize at the "Biennial Exhibition of Paintings" in Menton, France in 1966.

Nam Kwan won the Korean Cultural award in 1974 and the Korean Cultural prize in 1981. During the period 1968-77 he taught at Hong Ik University in Seoul. His paintings are in many private and museum collections, including the National Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, and the State Museum of Art in Luxembourg.