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Artday, a subsidiary of the Herald Corporation, presents a special selection of nature-inspired paintings for its fall auction and exhibition this week.

It features a total of 134 paintings by Korean and foreign artists including established figures such as Lee U-fan, Chon Kyung-ja, Oh Chi-gyun and Sa Suk-won and internationally celebrated artists Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Joan Miro and Yin Jun.

Works of young Korean artists such as Do Sung-wook, Yoon Hyun-mi and Byung Woong-pil are also on sale.

Artday auctions are known as online auctions that are easily accessible for both first-timers and experienced collectors.

Online bidding can be made at the Artday website (www.artday.co.kr) or at the Artday mobile application, which offers real time auction status. The application is available for both Android and iPhone.

Prominent works include “Correspondence” by Lee U-fan starting at 90 million won ($80,000); “Balloon Flower” by Oh Chi-gyun starting at 25 million won ($23,000); “Condition-Light” by Do Sung-wook starting at 18 million won and “Hello!” by Yayoi Kusama starting at 4.5 million won.

Minimalist painter Lee U-fan’s painting “Correspondence” features two bold strokes on a white canvas, leading viewers into a meditative state of mind with the peaceful and calm image.

Lee has enjoyed growing recognition in the U.S. following his retrospective at Guggenheim Museum last year and is one of the best-selling artists in Korean and Asian art markets.

According to organizers, the starting price for the painting is set below the recent average sales price of the artist’s works, which is expected to attract the attention of many collectors.

Oh’s “Balloon Flower” is part of the artist’s “Sabuk” series, a collection of landscape paintings of the coal mining town of Sabuk in Gangwon Province.

In the painting, Oh captures both the depressed atmosphere of the deserted old mining town and the contrasting hopeful and serene landscape with balloon flowers. The familiar rural village of Korea recalls one’s memories and sentiment of their hometown.

Do Sung-wook’s “Condition-Light” is the highlight among young artists’ works. Do’s painting portrays trees and light in a realistic yet fantastical way.

Selections of Korean landscape paintings by acclaimed artists including Kang Se-hwang, Lee Sang-beom, Kim Ki-chang, Lee Ha-eung, Park Saeng-gwang and Park No-su are also on offer.

Lee Sang-beom’s snow landscape creates a scene where the beauty of nature and the Korean rural atmosphere create a balanced harmony. The starting price is set at 7 million won.

Kusama’s print work “Hello!” is one of the highlights among the foreign artists’ works on the block. Her works have been receiving popular attention lately after her highly publicized collaboration with Louis Vuitton. The print work starts at 4.5 million won.

Those interested can view the works at the exhibition, which runs through Oct. 29 at Lotte Gallery at Lotte Department Store in Sogong-dong, Seoul. The auction closes one item per minute starting at 5 p.m. on Oct. 29.

For more information, call (02) 3210-2255, or visit www.artday.co.kr.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)

http://nwww.koreaherald.com