Title : Postage Stamps of the Korean Modern Art Series
(1st Issue)
Stamp Serial#
 1378 
KPC#
 C-1058 
MICHEL#
 1402 
StanGib#
 1663 
Scott#
 1401 
Date of Issue
 04/10/1985 
Quantity
 4,000,000 
Denomination
 70 won 
Design
 Rocky Mountain in the Early Spring Morning 
Designer
 Chun, Hee, han 
Image Area
 33mm*49mm 
Perforation
 13 
Sheet Composition
 Sheet of 10(5*2) 
Paper
 White Unwatermarked
Print
 The Korea Mint Corporation 
Description
Korea's modern art started with the introduction of Western painting at the beginning of the 20th century. Serving as a form of resistance during Japan's colonial rule, it is now firmly taking root as our art is spreading out into the rest of the world. What distinguishes it from our traditional art, is that it expresses traditional Korean naturalism in a new way, breaking from ideality by adoptiong realistic approaches. The Ministry of Communications intends to help introduce to the world the trends of our art revealed in the paintings put out from the period of artistic enlightenment up to the present. Under the Modern Art Series program will be issued postage stamps over the next several years carrying selected paintings from among the works of modern painters who are no longer alive today. The two following stamps are the first set of the series.

1.Rock Mountain in the Early Spring Morning (1915).
This is a painting by Ahn Jung-shik, known under the nom de plume of "Shimjeon" who lived around the end of the Chosun Period. He was especially noted for his excellent painting of landscapes, human figures, and flowers and birds. A large number of his works are preserved today. One of his masterpieces, this painting of an actual scene depicts a rocky mountain with the "Kyoungbok Palace" and its "Kwanghwamun Gate" in front of the mountain. Through this picture the artist expresses his feeling of the doomed destinity of the country by showing that it is only the rocky mountain that rises high in the early morning of spring, changeless for ever.

2.Still Life with a Doll (1927).
This is a painting by Lee Chong-woo, known under the nom de plume of "Suhlcho", which was accepted by the 1927 Salon de Automne Exhibition. The painter had gone to Paris in 1925 to study oil painting. The painting shows French impressionists influence, but with its painting technique revealing traces of classicism, it represents a world of electric beauty.