Prologue | The Power to Make Love Last

seoul
The woman's original name was Byun Dong-rim.
The man's name was Kim Hwan-ki.
A new life began with a new name.
The husband had a lot to say to his wife every evening.
One day my wife said she wanted to go to Europe.

Paris in Spring
Kim Hwan-ki and Kim Hyang-an's Paris
Midnight in Paris
In April 1955, Hyang-an arrived in springtime Paris.
In May 1956, Sign Language arrived in Paris.
First atelier, 90 Rue Dassas
Cooperation, growing together with loved ones
Walking down the rue Montparnasse at night, Su-hwa thought about the place he had left behind.

Do you remember our Paris?
The first exhibition was held in Senga
Madame Lunia of the Benegit Gallery
And they left for the Mediterranean
Nice, Radio at Noon
The wife believed her husband was a special person.
I was even grateful for the hardship.
The wife loves her husband
Su-hwa drew like a marathon runner, and Hyang-an was quiet.
The two people liked the same thing together
Nostalgia, perfume by Rue Dutot
Green Skirt of Saint-Louis Island
The libraries of Paris, and the realization that they were really there
Picasso Museum in Antibes
Grand Palais, Paris Photo and Hokusai

New York
Back in Seoul, they had a lot to do.
The peak of Mount Wau, the relentless wind and the unwavering passion
New York, this time, sign language was the first to stand alone.
Love was still intense, but the days in New York were harsh.
Together, their dreams became reality.
I didn't lose strength because I had someone who believed in me by my side.
Where and in what form will we meet again?
'Why is this happening?
I can't seem to find the energy these days.'
People go to their graves with dreams.
July 12, 1974.
Sign language's diary has stopped
He disappeared in an instant as if it were a lie.
He was someone I only met in my dreams

Back to Paris
It was Suhwa who revived Hyangan.
Even though I was sad, I didn't stop thinking about it.
Do you remember our Paris?
Montparnasse and Pere Lachaise, and Don't Cross That River, My Love
All About Love
George Sand's Letters
Sebastião Salgado and Lelia Wanick Salgado

Epilogue: Kim Hwan-ki, Kim Hyang-an, Sartre, and Beauvoir

Love is intelligence!
Are we ready to love now?

"Remember Our Paris" is an essay that poignantly depicts the true meaning of love itself through the life and art of painter Kim Hwan-ki and his wife Kim Hyang-an.
The reason that Jeong Hyeon-ju, a writer already beloved for her numerous essays on love, quit her main job as a radio writer and headed to Paris, France was because of the picture letters that Kim Hwan-ki sent to his wife, Kim Hyang-an.
And it was because of Kim Hyang-an’s one word, “Love is intelligence.”
Author Jeong Hyeon-ju says that love is not a matter of emotion or giving and receiving, but rather the power to sprout that emotion and sustain it until the end.
And the power that sustains that love is intelligence, and intelligence must begin with how I can love 'well' myself.


People often think that love is a privilege of youth.
But love is always young.
If you love, you are young.
Just as flowers are more beautiful not because they bloom, but because of the anticipation and excitement that comes with blooming, and the sadness and strength that comes with waiting for the next time after the flower falls, love is also beautiful.
"Remember Our Paris" is a unique essay that looks at love from this perspective.
Centered around the picture letters that reveal the true nature of the passionate and lively painter Kim Hwan-ki, the emotions that writer Jeong Hyeon-ju gained while personally visiting Paris, where their scent still lingers, intersect.
And the love and art of Kim Hwan-ki and Kim Hyang-an are naturally incorporated into it.

So, this book tells us to 'look back' on our love through the couple, or lovers, or artistic companions, Kim Hwan-ki and Kim Hyang-an, and makes us 'look at' the person next to us now.
Author Jeong Hyeon-ju, who has been communicating about love through radio and books, has found our sustainable love through reflecting on love.
And in his uniquely emotional style, he calmly tells us that love requires us to calmly look back at ourselves and the person next to us now, and the person who will be with us.
This book will provide time for those who are just beginning to love to think again about the true beauty of love, from those who are just beginning to love to those who are preparing for love and separation at the end of their lives.


Love is self-esteem!
Kim Hyang-an, who aspired to become a greater person in a wider world, and painter Kim Hwan-ki

Artist Kim Hwan-ki and his wife Kim Hyang-an are already known to us as pioneers of Korean abstract painting and representative female writers.
But we don't really know how they trusted and loved each other through their difficult lives.
Only the strange youth of Kim Hyang-an, who was just an ideal wife, was talked about by some irresponsible magnates.
However, if we look at the letters of Kim Hwan-ki and the writings of Kim Hyang-an that have been made public so far, we can see that they were artistic comrades and also other selves.
In "Remember Our Paris," Jeong Hyeon-ju gives us a new appreciation for Kim Hyang-an and reveals to women of this era what makes her uniquely attractive.

We usually call the lovers and wives of famous artists 'muses', portraying them as sources of artistic inspiration, women who sacrificed themselves for their husbands, and objects of longing.
It was the image of a 'muse' that projected a passive female image.
But Kim Hyang-an is different.
She was Kim Hwan-ki's artistic companion and a window that guided him to communicate with the larger world.
She herself was an outstanding writer and critic with an artistic eye, a strong and courageous woman who constantly studied and went out into the world.
When her husband wrote a letter apologizing for the hardships he had caused her, she replied that it was “the writing of an ordinary man” and was a strong-willed woman who hoped that her husband would become a greater person.
Also, when the young painter's wife complained about the hardships of being an artist's wife, she was a woman with strong self-esteem who said, "Instead of talking about how difficult it is to live as an artist's wife, you should ask what you should do to live well as an artist's wife."
For the delicate and emotional Kim Hwan-ki, his wife Kim Hyang-an's character and intelligence were the support that kept her husband from being consumed by emotional turmoil.


So, Kim Hyang-an's way of loving and Kim Hwan-ki's way of loving are not called the highest, purest, sacrificial, or longing.
They were wise lovers who protected their own and each other's self-esteem and encouraged each other to grow.
Love is born from emotion, but the splendor of emotion is fleeting and cannot last.
So, in order to sustain love, my own self-esteem must be properly established.


Love is courage!
Kim Hyang-an, who knew no fear, and painter Kim Hwan-ki, who trusted in his wife's wisdom.
And the picture letters that contain that life

Korean War in 1950.
The couple was troubled as they faced evacuation.
Because I was worried about what to do with the white porcelain jars that were piled up all over the house.
Eventually, the couple decided to throw the jar into the well in their house.
This is because they believed that a well was the safest storage place.
In Busan's Dal-dong neighborhood, the couple endured a life of misery as refugees.
The husband painted in a small room smaller than his height, and the wife dreamed of a flood, desperately filling a bucket in the middle of the night to get even a single drop of water.
Meanwhile, my wife studied French.
Like the shattered jars in the well of a ruined house, art was an impossible dream, but the couple did not give up, and the husband wondered where his art ranked among the countless artists in the vast world.


“Go out,” the wife said simply and clearly to her husband one day when he was drunk and wanted to assess his art.
And their adventure began.
My wife was enterprising and fearless.
My wife was a wise woman who knew that it takes courage to do greater art with a greater heart in a wider world.
In 1955, his wife Kim Hyang-an left for Paris, and a year later, Kim Hwan-ki arrived in Paris where his wife was waiting.
Despite the stereotype of them as artists from the outskirts, the couple did not lose hope and expanded their artistic world.
Even at the center of world art, Kim Hwan-ki did not lose his roots, but rather embodied them within himself.
This was also the case when he returned from Paris in 1963, four years later, and was working alone in New York.


Artists are constantly changing.
But it requires tremendous courage and trials.
Even for the middle-aged painter Kim Hwan-ki, it was a difficult challenge and a source of courage.
The same was true for his wife, Kim Hyang-an.
She showed another level of courage that strengthened her husband's challenge and led him through all aspects of life.
《Remember Our Paris》 contains picture letters filled with the artist's feelings and overwhelming longing, as well as drawings made while thinking of his wife.
His picture letters and drawings, which are not usually made public, make us discard the weight and preconceptions associated with the name Kim Hwan-ki, a master of Korean modern art.
His hidden true charm lies in his boyish sensibility and the liveliness and wistfulness of an artist at the forefront of modern art.
The picture letters, filled with confidence, courage, love and longing for his wife, sometimes bring laughter and sometimes a sense of longing.
And his letters, which are like poems, have the charm and purity of a young lover's love letters.
We can discover the true nature of Kim Hwan-ki, a man who was renowned as a master, as a human being, and as a lover, in these picture letters, and we can also see the love that their courage created.