Kim Hong-do painting, Park Soo-keun newspaper illustrations among highlights at upcoming auctions

Cultural heritage works repatriated from abroad and paintings by masters of Korean modern art are heading to the auction block this month.

Seoul Auction will hold its 195th art auction Tuesday afternoon at its Gangnam center in Seoul. A total of 101 lots will go under the hammer, with a combined low estimate of about 8.5 billion won ($6.14 million).

Four cultural heritage pieces repatriated from Japan will make their domestic debut at the sale.

Kim Hong-do's "Baekse Noduta" depicts a Buddhist ascetic who has cast off worldly attachments and a young attendant beside him, rendered against a blank background to draw full attention to the two figures. Buddhist devotional paintings made for personal contemplation and faith — a genre known as Danwon's "appreciative Buddhist paintings" — survive in far smaller numbers than his works in other subjects. The piece is believed to have once belonged to Sone Arasuke, who served as Japan's resident-general of Korea in the final years of the Joseon dynasty. Its estimate is 30 million to 60 million won.

Also making their Korean debut are Oh Il-young's "Pungnimjeonggeodo" (estimated at 1.5 million to 5 million won), Yi Ha-eung's "Goeseok Mukrando" (8 million to 20 million won) and Min Yeong-ik's "Mukrando" (7 million to 20 million won).

Further highlights include Jeong Seon's "Gangsang Joeo-do" (estimated at 28 million to 60 million won), Jeong Yak-yong's letter (8 million to 25 million won) and a calligraphic work by Kim Gu bearing the inscription "Heonsin Joguk" (17 million to 40 million won).

Among modern and contemporary works, Park Soo-keun's 1960 painting "Street" — from the peak of his mature period — will be offered at price on request. The work captures women carrying basins on their heads and children in conversation, evoking the everyday lives of ordinary Koreans in the 1950s and 1960s. It represents the height of Park's distinctive technique, in which he built up multiple layers of underpainting to create a richly textured surface. The work was long held by Hugh Cohen, a professor who helped establish film studies at the University of Michigan.

Park Seo-bo's red "Ecriture" canvas "Ecriture No. 050319" (2005) — a large-scale work of about 200 ho in size — rounds out the autumn offerings. Park drew inspiration from autumn foliage he encountered during an exhibition at the Tokyo Gallery. Its estimate is 600 million to 800 million won.

Five works by Lee Bae will be offered, including his 1994 "Untitled" and 2020 "Brushstroke." Also going under the hammer are Ha Chong-hyun's "Conjunction 19-82," Jung Young-joo's "Daldongnae Evening 903" (200 million to 300 million won), Woo Kuk-won's "Ugly Duckling" (120 million to 230 million won), Chung Sang-hwa's "Untitled 06-7-23" (320 million to 500 million won) and Lee Ufan's "Dialogue" (price on request).

Among international artists, the 1994 canvas "Pumpkin" by Yayoi Kusama — who died last month — is expected to draw considerable attention. It marks the first time a Kusama canvas original has appeared at a domestic auction since her death. The composition, filled edge to edge with a pumpkin rendered in a striking contrast of black and yellow, weaves together the polka dots and Infinity Net motifs she explored throughout her career, offering a window into her art of obsession and healing. The estimate is 800 million to 950 million won.

Andy Warhol's 1967 "Marilyn Monroe" and his 1964 "Liz" will also be offered.

K Auction will hold its September sale on Sept. 30 at its headquarters in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, presenting 117 lots valued at a combined 11 billion won.

The sale features an album of 207 newspaper illustrations capturing the turbulent postwar Korean art scene of the 1950s. A single collector assembled and preserved the album, which brings together illustrations by 61 leading figures in Korean modern and contemporary art originally published in newspapers between 1956 and 1959.

The album is packed with works by masters who broke away from the academicism of the National Art Exhibition and spearheaded bold new movements in form — among them Park Soo-keun, Chang Ucchin, Kim Ki-chang, Park Rae-hyun, Park Seo-bo, Kim Tschang-yeul, Lee Ungno and Chun Kyung-ja, all of whom were active in groups such as the Baekwoo Society, the Modern Art Association, the Contemporary Artists Association and the New Plastic Arts Group, and sought to bring modernism and abstract art into the Korean art world. The estimate is 260 million to 400 million won.

A number of works by Korean modern artists who captured their turbulent era on canvas will also be offered.

Jang Ri-seok was born in Pyongyang and made his debut when he was selected for the Joseon Art Exhibition in 1942. He fled south during the Korean War and took refuge on Jeju Island, where he spent about four years until 1954, producing numerous works depicting haenyeo divers, the lives of Jeju residents, and coastal and mountain village scenery. After moving to Seoul, he turned to the daily lives of the elderly and ordinary people, and won the presidential prize at the National Art Exhibition in 1958 for "Old Man in the Shade." His 1972 work "Munjeon" will be offered at this sale, with an estimate of 5 million to 20 million won.

Also on offer are Park Young-sun's "Model" (8 million to 30 million won), Moon Hak-jin's "Still Life B" (8 million to 35 million won), Hwang Yeom-su's "Landscape" (6 million to 35 million won), Kwon Ok-yeon's "Woman" (4 million to 25 million won) and Park Go-seok's "Ssanggyesa Road" (15 million to 50 million won).

Lee Dae-won's 1996 "Farm (Pear Blossoms)" — a work that showcases his signature pointillist technique — will be offered while a retrospective of his work runs at the Deoksugung branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Lee set up a studio at a farm in Paju, Gyeonggi Province in 1973 and spent more than 30 years painting its landscapes. He combined line and pointillist techniques from the 1960s onward, and from the 1980s his canvases grew increasingly defined by vivid primary-color dots — each point remaining independent, never blending with its neighbors. The estimate for this work is 190 million to 280 million won.

Do Ho Suh's "Floor Module" will also go under the hammer while his solo exhibition runs at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's Seoul branch. Suh studied Korean painting at Seoul National University before pursuing painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and sculpture at Yale University. He gained international recognition when he represented Korea at the 2001 Venice Biennale. The "Floor" series features small PVC figures of different races and genders supporting a glass panel, installed so that viewers can walk directly across the surface. The estimate is 360 million to 600 million won.