Material Oil on hemp cloth
Dimensions 161 × 128.6 cm
Status Vetted

About the Work

Kim Tschang-Yeul (1929–2021)'s Water Drops are a formative evolution of the "hole" image that frequently appeared in the artist's works during the Informel period before 1970. He began producing the Water Drops series in the early 1970s in a poor, converted stable that served as a studio in Palaiseau, on the outskirts of Paris. Subsequently, he began to garner significant public attention with his first solo exhibition in 1973, and through his interactions with various artists in his studio, he built artistic discourse and friendships, eventually earning him the nickname Monsieur Gouttes (Mr. Waterdrops). In the early stages of the work, Kim Tschang-Yeul drew water drops onto the surface of hemp cloth using an air spray, which is characterized by the feeling that the water drops have naturally settled on the rough surface of the material. Starting in the late 1970s, the artist added expressions of stained water drops, and in the 1980s, he began to combine various techniques, including painterly expression and collage.


The rapid modernisation process of Korean society in the mid-20th century, which led through war, national division, industrialization, and urbanization, left deep scars on Kim Tschang-Yeul’s inner world, and this trauma was sublimated into a unique formative language. Kim Tschang-Yeul spearheaded the Informel movement around the 1950s, taking the lead in integrating the language of Western modern art with Korean sentiment. From his activities in New York in 1965 to his settlement in Paris in 1969, he never ceased his journey of experimentation and challenge to reach his own distinct art. In the early 1970s, as the journey of his Water Drop paintings began, he established his own unique artistic world, and the water drop, which he explored throughout his life, soon became the artistic symbol representing Kim Tschang-Yeul.


Kim Tschang-Yeul’s œuvre, which beautifully captures not only the development of modern Korean art but also the unique spirituality of the Korean people, is consistently beloved by collectors both domestically and internationally. He continuously experimented with newly integrating Western Informel into Korean art in the 1950s. Throughout his periods in New York in the 1960s and Paris in the 1970s, he explored his own unique formative language and aesthetic characteristics through works such as Composition, Phenomenon, and Waterdrops, and furthermore, through Recurrence from the late 1980s until recently. Kim Tschang-Yeul began participating in international exhibitions from the 1960s, making a significant contribution to promoting Korean art during a period when there was no government support. As such, he is a key figure who led the Korean art world, which gives him a deep art-historical significance. Consequently, Kim Tschang-Yeul's international activities and works are highly valued, making his pieces highly worthy of collection.

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Provenance

Private Collection

View artwork at TEFAF Maastricht 2026

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