34 Facts About Varlen Pen

Pen Varlen was a Soviet Russian-Korean painter and graphic artist.

Varlen Pen was a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, lived and worked in Leningrad, regarded as a representative of the Leningrad school of painting, and most famous for his portrait paintings.

Pen Varlen was born on September 29,1916, into a Korean refugee settlement located in Shkotovsky, Primorski Krai.

Varlen Pen completed his primary education in Shinhanchon located in Vladivostok.

In 1937, while Varlen Pen completed his studies in the Sverdlovsk Art School, his parents were forcefully relocated to Central Asia under Stalin's efforts to deport minority groups from within Russia.

Varlen Pen worked closely with his supervisor, Alexander Osmerkin, on the completion of his dissertation work titled "Fishermen in Choson", known as "Korean Fishermen".

Nonetheless, Varlen Pen's work remained prominent both in the Iliya Repin Leningrad Academy of Painting, and the wider Soviet art scene.

Between 1942 and 1944, Varlen Pen fled to Samarkand in Uzbekistan in order to avoid the German invasion.

In 1951, a few years after his return to Russia, Varlen Pen earned his doctorate degree and began working as a professor of the Drawing Department at the Ilya Repin Leningrad Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Varlen Pen spent 35 years as an educator at the Academy.

Additionally, Varlen Pen became a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists.

Additionally, Varlen Pen had work featured in Moscow during the 1950 all Soviet Art Exhibition.

In 1953, Varlen Pen traveled to North Korea under the orders of the Soviet Ministry of Culture.

Varlen Pen arrived in North Korea in 1953, shortly before the July 28 armistice treaty between North and South Korea.

Varlen Pen, who was fluent in Korean, was sent to help restore the Pyongyang College of Arts with the expectation of integrating Soviet education and policy into the North Korean art scene.

At the Pyongyang College of Arts, Varlen Pen helped construct a new curriculum based on Socialist Realism, the main principles of which included "people-ness, class-ness, party-ness, revolutionary romanticism, optimism, hurtfulness, humanism, and the unity of content and form".

At the Pyongyang College of Fine Arts, Varlen Pen introduced a new form of art training referred to as "field sketching" or "direct rendering of objects", which continues to be practiced today.

Varlen Pen often took his students on field trips to various locations throughout Pyongyang in order to encourage them to draw realistic subject matter as part of their 'field sketching' training.

Varlen Pen used this training method as a means to eradicate Formalism in the North Korean art scene, which he believed stemmed from the previous Japanese Colonial rule.

In February 1954, Varlen Pen traveled to China where he met with the ink-painter Qi Baishi.

However, Varlen Pen was unable to fully realize his vision for 'Chosonhwa' as he left North Korea and returned to the Soviet Union in September 1954.

In September 1954, Pen Varlen returned to the Soviet Union due to an illness prompted by overworking himself in North Korea.

Varlen Pen originally planned a short visit to the Soviet Union in order to heal and restock on art supplies.

In 1955, Varlen Pen was offered North Korean citizenship due his Korean ethnicity.

Varlen Pen's offer originated from an agreement made under the "Juche" ideology between Kim Il Sung and the Soviet Union with the aim to abolish dual citizenship.

Once back in the Soviet Union, Varlen Pen greatly missed North Korea and continued to create art based on sketches he had made during his time at Pyongyang.

Varlen Pen died on May 26,1990, after suffering from a stroke in 1985.

Previously, Varlen Pen had art featured in the NMMCA's 2005 Centennial of Korean Art exhibition, where his work was shown as part of the "Liberation and Division" section in commemoration of 60 years since the liberation of the Koreas from Japanese Colonial rule.

The 'Panorama of Leningrad' and 'Portraits with Souls' themes of Varlen Pen's retrospective included artwork showcasing his years as a student at the Repin Leningrad Academy.

The 'Journey to Pyongyang' section of the retrospective featured artwork of scenes and landscapes from North Korea, most of which Varlen Pen painted after his return to the Soviet Union.

The 'Landscapes of Diaspora' theme of the exhibition covered destinations Varlen Pen traveled to within Europe after his return to Russia in 1954.

Moon won the 2017 Yumin Award in Culture for his research into Varlen Pen's life, shedding light on the artist's contribution to Korean art history.

Varlen Pen immediately recognized the inherent connection to Korean culture in Pen's painting and began his research into the artist's life.

Many of Varlen Pen's artworks continue to be displayed in Russian institutions and buildings, while the location of others remain a mystery.