Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Paik Tae Woun was born in Taechon County, North Pyongan Province, and embarked upon a career as an artisan upon graduating from the Taechon Lacquer Art Academy. His exhibition, held at Donghwa Department Store in 1957 (now the flagship store of Shinsegae Department Store), went down in history as the first solo exhibition by a Korean artisan. He devoted his entire life to mastering and modernizing the traditional Korean techniques of Najeon (mother-of–pearl) lacquerware. His work encompasses the field of handcraft and industrial craft. As a professor, and later professor emeritus, at Chung-Ang University College of Arts, he nurtured generations of artists and training artisans who have followed in his footsteps, nowadays called “designers.” He also had a hand in decorating the interior of the main building of the Blue House, as well as the interior of the Korean Air 747 jumbo passenger aircraft No. 1. Baek Tae-Won’s art features traditional motifs expressed in modern ways, and embodies functionality and practicality as well as sculptural beauty. His furniture, such as totem chests, bedside chests, and partitions, as well as lamps and bottles, are housed in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Baek Tae-Won received the Jeweled Crown Order of Cultural Merit in 1997.