Prologue_Waiting for Kemmerer's story

PART 1.
Painters who looked at nature and abstraction, looking at the world in a new way

Henri Matisse - Dancing Primary Colors, the Birth of Fauvism
Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky: The Blue Knights Who Riding Towards Pure Beauty
Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky: From Betrayed Lover to Pioneer of Abstract Art
Piet Mondrian - Footsteps of the yearning to find order in chaos
Koloman Moser - A Hidden Meritorious Person Who Brings People and Talent Together to Make Art Available to Everyone
Katsushika Hokusai - The original cartoonist who shook up Western art

PART 2.
Artists Who Fought Their Dreams Between Women and Motherhood

Marie Laurencin - A Woman Who Went Her Own Way in Search of Pure Beauty
Mary Cassatt - When Two Values ​​Collide: Artist and Mother
Artemisia Gentileschi: From Hatred and Discrimination to Standing Strong as "Here, I Am"
Suzanne Valadon - Love yourself as you are, as you see yourself.
Maurice Utrillo - The Montmartre Drunkard Who Only Found Peace in Painting
James Whistler - The Foolish Son Who Unknowingly Painted the Best Portrait of His Mother

PART 3.
Painters who discovered beauty in the intersection of light and darkness, life and death.

Wilhelm Hammershöy - An introverted artist who listened to the quiet light within.
Joaquin Sorolla - The protagonist of an ecstatic festival that bathed the world in warm light
Ilya Repin: The legacy of a genius painter who saw through the illusion of political power.
Gustave Courbet - What Happens When Art Gets Swept Up in the Maelstrom of Politics
Arnold Böcklin - From Death to Life, the Painter Who Glimpse Beyond Life
Ferdinand Hodler - When Art Blossoms Between Finite Life and Eternal Death

PART 4.
Artists who sought answers to their twisted lives through art.

Thomas Lawrence - A sad portrait of the painter loved by two sisters
Bernard Buffet - The genius who went from star to hypocrite overnight
Robis Corinth - A Man Who Overcame His Disability with a Superhuman Will to Live
Pierre Bonnard - A poetic magician who concealed secrets in beautiful colors
Edouard Vuillard - A timid man who simply collected everyday colors
Felix Vallotton - The painter of anxiety who became the protagonist of his own paintings

References

The life and death, joy and sorrow, dreams and hopes of the artists contained in their works
Enjoy world-famous masterpieces in one volume, full of collection value.

Reporter Seong Su-yeong, who shares stories about art through her weekly column, helps people approach art in a fun and easy way, rather than in a difficult or rigid way.
The third book, “The Secret of Masterpieces, That Person at That Time,” which followed “The Birth of a Masterpiece, That Person at That Time” and “The Discovery of a Masterpiece, That Person at That Time,” which were published in response to readers’ requests to collect the serialized articles into a single book and received much love, adds even more depth to the stories told so far.
Art is also a human endeavor.
The author says that by looking closely at an individual, we can naturally better understand their work, their style, their era, and even humanity in general.
This is why, as we listen to the author's calm and warm account of the artists' lives, we can naturally learn about the background and characteristics of their works, the people who influenced them, and the meaning they convey.
Additionally, it will be a valuable gift for those who want to easily appreciate famous paintings, as they can enjoy the collection of famous art museums in one book.

《The Secret of Masterpieces, That Person at That Time》 is composed of four chapters.
It introduces the lives and representative works of 25 people, including Henri Matisse, the master of Fauvism who was called Pablo Picasso's lifelong rival, Piet Mondrian, a representative painter of abstract art and simple beauty, Artemisia Gentileschi, a Baroque painter in the style of Caravaggio, and Katsushika Hokusai, the original cartoonist who shook up Western art.


Chapter 1, with the theme of 'Nature and Abstraction', deals with the expanded world of art as a true crossover through artists such as the Blue Riders, who were not recognized in their time but were evaluated as a leading group in abstract art by pioneering a unique painting style that others had not attempted, and painters who attempted total art, which believed that even dishes and furniture used in everyday life could become great works of art.
Chapter 2, on the theme of 'Women and Motherhood,' tells the story of female painters who overcame the limitations of contemporary prejudice and discrimination, transcending gender to pursue their dreams, and painters who were nurtured by the underlying maternal instinct, thereby discussing true freedom and hope.
And in Chapter 3, under the theme of 'Light and Darkness', we introduce painters who silently expressed the dark side of life through their paintings in their own unique ways, adding to the enjoyment of reading by comparing the lives of these people who lived in different times but had contrasting worldviews on the same subject.
Finally, Chapter 4 introduces the painters who, despite facing the twists and turns of life and fate and sometimes being treated as hypocrites, sublimated their experiences into their works, as well as the Nabis, a mystical art group known for their dreamlike atmosphere and symbolic colors, and presents the precious stories of relatively lesser-known painters.

Between nature and abstraction, between motherhood and femininity, between light and darkness…
A life full of ups and downs sublimated into a painting
The brilliant lives and masterpieces of these jewel-like painters.

“A world of art unfolds, like the murder of a famous painting, where their lives are filled with death and they gain eternal life through death!”
- Kim Chang-wan -

One work contains one person's life.
Therefore, the closer you get to art, the more you can understand the values ​​and lives of various people through numerous works, and expand your life experience.
For example, there was Suzanne Valadon, who fell in love with her son's friend and was a woman who sought love before becoming someone's mother, pursuing pure beauty and passion. There was also Mary Cassatt, who lived her entire life as a celibate, carving out her own path, but always painted pictures of mothers and children.
Also, regarding the same subject of 'debt', there is Wilhelm Hammershöy, who, due to his extremely introverted personality, sought to express the light that seeped into his home and the beautiful light within in his works, and there is also Joaquin Sorolla, who was called the master of light because he sought the warm light of the outside world and reflected bright and gorgeous colors throughout his paintings.


In the face of the environmental influence of 'political power', there was Ilya Repin, who chose to distance himself from politics, thoroughly expressing his love for the people and remaining a commoner painter. There was also Gustave Courbet, who used politics as a means of self-promotion and declared himself to be a notorious superstar, but ultimately became a victim of power.
Also, when faced with the life topic of 'death', there is Arnold Böcklin, who viewed and interpreted life and death as two sides of a coin, saying that life and death are one large flow, and there is also Ferdinand Hodler, who finally escaped the fear of death by continuously drawing the image of a dying woman.
Perhaps it is only natural that our own images are occasionally reflected in the colorful lives of each and every artist.


The author's kind interpretation and profound perspective, based on his art historical background and knowledge, continue to this day.
While the previous two books focused on the stories of famous painters whose names alone were familiar and the hidden stories of their rivalry, this book aims to include the backstories of lesser-known or hidden gems of painters.
Finding the missing pieces is never easy, like reconstructing a giant dinosaur's body and roar from a single fossilized dinosaur tooth, but the author believes that uncovering the artist's true life story is a valuable task for understanding their art.
So, the more I read each book, the more exciting and new it becomes.
We have tried to provide a richer viewing experience by including as many beautiful and interesting pictures as possible.


The more you look into these unique works, the more captivating they become. Looking into the lives of those who pursued their own paths with a more unique, intense, and passionate focus than others will bring us both joy and sorrow as we read.
As you read the stories of artists and their works, told in captivating prose that is both easy to read and resonant, entertaining, and moving, you will discover new meanings, empathize, and, without even realizing it, expand your understanding and depth of art—a truly remarkable experience.