A hot topic appearing on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block"
Host of EBS Classe's #1 rated show, "Jung Woo-chul's Art Theater"
Exhibition commentator for Korea's most popular exhibitions, including the 'Henri Matisse Exhibition' and the 'Bernard Buffet Exhibition'
“I just read it for fun
“Culture grows naturally!”
Guided by docent Woo-cheol Jeong, the ‘affectionate storyteller’ of the art world
Art experience time for cultured adults

A new book has been published by docent Woo-cheol Jeong, who has appeared on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block" and JTBC's "Talk Pawon 25 Hours" and has been active as a commentator for Korea's most popular exhibitions, such as the "Henri Matisse Exhibition" and the "Bernard Buffet Exhibition."
This book is a retelling of the popular EBS educational program "My Second Textbook: Art," which reinterpreted "textbook knowledge" as "education for adults."

In this book, docent Jeong Woo-cheol takes a look back at the works of 21 of the best domestic and foreign painters that we saw in our textbooks during our school days, including representative Korean painters Lee Jung-seob and Park Soo-geun, and representative Western painters Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. He kindly introduces not only basic information about the works but also the lives of the painters hidden within the works.


As we listen to docent Jeong Woo-cheol's explanations, which feel like a journey back to the moment the artwork was created, the paintings enter our lives, and while we just read for fun, our artistic knowledge naturally grows.
When you learn about the life of Lee Jung-seob, who painted for his beloved family, you will feel the sorrow in his painting of [The Bull], and when you learn about the life of Monet, who tried to capture the beauty of light and color in his paintings even when he was blind, you will finally understand why his masterpiece [Water Lilies] deeply moves people.

“Studying art is not simply about accumulating knowledge of art, but rather, it is an opportunity to look back on one’s own life through the paintings and lives of artists.” As docent Jeong Woo-cheol said, if you read this book, art will no longer be simply “art that is difficult to be pretty and beautiful” that is separate from our lives.
You will feel the joy and emotion that familiar paintings add to our lives.

Love and War.
This is probably the most concise statement about the lives of Lee Jung-seob and Amedeo Modigliani.
Lee Jung-seob worked on his art during the Korean War, and Modigliani worked on his art during the First World War. As the madness of the war intensified, they fled to Jeju Island and Nice, southern France, respectively, and continued their work.
Although I felt a brief sense of relief in the remote place, I also felt wounds that bordered on trauma.

But even in the midst of war, what made their souls happy was life with the woman they loved.
Lee Jung-seob fell in love with Lee Nam-deok, a Japanese painter, and Modigliani fell in love with Jeanne Hebuterne, a painter and lover 14 years his junior.
They all fell in love with each other at first sight, loved each other fiercely, and experienced a sad and hazy separation.
So their lives were both happy times filled with love and painful times filled with war.
The circumstances that led to the end of their lives are also very similar.
Both ambitiously prepared for their first solo exhibitions, but suffered great disappointment and frustration.
And a deep sigh extinguished their young artistic spirit forever.
---「Chapter 1.
From "Lee Jung-seob and Modigliani: Art, Love, and Life"

Park Soo-keun and Vincent van Gogh both captured the 'ordinary lives of common people' on canvas.
I wanted to capture the image of a rural area where farmers just work hard without any special events, living each day diligently without anything special to do.
What they noticed in that appearance was 'sublimity'.
This is because I felt an utmost nobility in the very sight of ordinary people faithfully carrying out their roles.
The world of these two works has in common the origins of the French painter Jean-Francois Millet.
Millet, a realist painter who depicted the lives of 19th-century farmers, captured the lives of rural areas and farmers in his works, [The Gleaners] and [The Angelus], which depicted them warmly and earnestly.

---「Chapter 2.
From "Park Soo-keun and Van Gogh: Drawing the Purity of Life with Stars and Trees"

Monet's bright and vibrant painting style is now slowly beginning to resemble watercolors.
I used a specific color frequently, and with repeated brushstrokes, I began to create paintings that looked as if paint had been poured onto the canvas.
His right eye was virtually blind, and he painted with only his left eye.
For Monet, this situation was nothing but fear and dread.
As a result, he often got angry, and at times he would tear up and destroy his own work.
It is said that when his eyesight was at its worst, he destroyed as many as 500 pieces of art.

But Monet did not completely collapse.
He completed a work called [Training], which can be called his masterpiece.
He had been drawing meditations all his life, giving comfort to others, but now his last work was giving comfort to himself.
December 5, 1926, the day this work was completed.
Monet died at the age of 86.
His death made headlines, and his funeral was held quietly, without any religious ceremonies or speeches, as he had requested.
His coffin was covered with a black cloth, but his friends said, 'There is no black for Monet.'
This is because impressionist painters usually believed that 'there is no black as long as there is light.'
Eventually, his coffin was covered with the bright, floral fabric he so loved.
---「Chapter 3.
Monet and Renoir: Capturing the Bright and Lively Life

At that time, painters always drew Baladong as pretty and beautiful.
The same goes for Renoir's painting of Suzanne Valadon. A calm and beautiful woman without any worries.
This is exactly what Baladong looked like on canvas.
But was Baladong really a woman of that appearance? In fact, it's not easy to see that as the case.
It is not easy for a woman who has lived in the lowest class to have such a peaceful demeanor while doing laundry since her teens.
It is highly likely that he was a person filled with the hardships of life that he had to constantly endure.
Perhaps Baladong was very dissatisfied with the way he looked on canvas.
So, haven't you ever thought about drawing a picture of your true self?
Eventually, she began to nurture her dream of becoming an artist and of painting herself.
Of course, all conditions were poor.
I couldn't go to art school, nor could I learn painting from a painter.
In the end, I had no choice but to learn how artists paint by watching them as I worked as a model.
And during break time, I would secretly go to a corner and practice by imitating other artists' paintings.
---「Chapter 6.
From "Gentileschi, Suzanne Valadon, Frida Kahlo"

Munch learned about Van Gogh's work and his life.
In the process, he realized that Vincent van Gogh was the one who had it harder than he was.
But although he always complained about wanting to die, Van Gogh put hope into his paintings.
And he wondered.
How did Van Gogh capture hope in his paintings? From then on, Munch began to change little by little.


One time, the University of Oslo hired an artist to paint a mural.
And the changed Munch applied for this and painted a work called [The Sun].
For Norwegians, the sun is very different from what we usually think of it as.
From November to February, the sun appears to rise but then disappears immediately, never rising at all.
From our perspective, such an environment itself would be extremely painful.
For these Norwegians, the sun is a symbol of joy, signaling the end of the harsh winter and the arrival of spring.
Now, Munch has found "hope," not "the scream."

---「Chapter 8.
From "Munch and Kirchner, Expressing Inner Feelings in Lines and Colors"