The theories of Korean Public Art originated by the artists who were against dictatorship and they associated with democratic politicians. They criticized the Fine art that were supported by the dictatorship and gave their efforts for restoration of ‘resistance paintings(against dictatorship)’, ‘proletarian painting’, ‘realism painting’. In addition, they participated new social ideology(democracy) movement and demonstrated for their rights in arts. These became the main kernel the public art theory was initiated. The public artists splitted into several different parts and participated in the democratic social movement as well as the art movement for freedom. They opened various art exhibitions within different genre, diverse space for various art section such as an exhibition hall, a factories, a university, or a congregation square. Furthermore, the public art theorists published their divergent views through newspaper/broadcasting or unauthorized printed materials. Most of the public artist and the theorists kept their relationship strongly until 1985, the time when ‘ National Arts Association’ started. In 1983 and 1984, they were clearly separated into two parts; artists(move only in art museums) and activists(move in public spaces like school, convention square etc). Their ideological separation also took out national problems. The division; professional artists and armatures, became the social issue as a social stratification matter. And in creating method, there are also other conflicts; critical realism, and public realism as well as western painting and traditional one. These kinds of separation and conflicts made different Public artists associations, under divergent names; ‘Reality and Speak’(R&S), ‘KwangJu Art Association’, ‘Durung’, ‘Dang(Land)’, and ‘Local Youth Students Association’. In addition, their ideology and pursuit toward art movements were very difference. However, the differences and conflicts weakened When the oppression of democratic education from new dictatorship(Pres. Jun, Doo Hwan) came out. In August. 1985 the government opened to the public so called, 'The draft of School stabilization law'(Hankwon Anjung Bup) to control the teachers' rights and that initiated bigger street demonstration and conflicts between police and educators. In November.1985, assembly meeting of National Arts Association in democracy opened as ‘ONE’ combined organization. In this presentation, I'd like to summarize the stream of art movement until 1984, and clarify the main art theories that lead the Public Art Movements in 1980s. The main theories in 1980s are crucial because they become the origin of public art theories. This presentation started with O,youn's ｢Hyunsil Dong In the first declaration｣ and explained the absent of practice in 1970s. In addition, Won, Dong Suk 's theory was mentioned as all over struggles in theories before 1980s. GA and R&S 's founding declarations in 1970s were the start of public art theorists' activities and this article reported the activities after the declarations. First, realism base on the consciousness of reality. Second, practice art democratization based on the ideology. Third, the subject of public art movement based on understanding people's social stratification structure. Fourth, the matters of national forms and creative ways in arts based on showing reality. Fifth, the strong points in arts that the practitioners accepted. About the public art theories around 1984, I discussed the dividing point of public art theories that were shown in ‘generation theory’, ‘organization theory’, and ‘popularization theory’ by the practitioners. The public realism theory that subjects the contradiction of reality and point out the limits of critical realism not only showing the new creative ways but also giving the feeling of solidarity to the public art activist groups. After that, public art movements expressed ‘Dismentlement of Capitalism’ and ‘Public revolution’. In addition, the direction of public art movements were established strongly. There were various opinions and views during the start and formation of the public art theories. The foundation of theorists activities derived from the practitioners who had the concept based on stratification and nationalism. The strong trend of group division spreaded out by practitioners who opened art work together in factories, universities, squares and rural areas. Now many lively active practitioners are gone to the other field not related with arts, and others join into professional art field not public art one with unknown reason. The theorists have the same situation with the practitioners. It means to me that theory always have to be based on the practice.

PASKYULA was formed in September, 1923 through the union of artists involved in two art groups: Kim Ki-Jin, Kim Bok-Jin, Yeon Hak-Nyeon who had previously participated in the ToWolHoi, and Park Young-Hi, Lee Sang-Hwa, An Seok-Ju, former members of the BaeckJo. After its founding, the PASKYULA artists had been searching for the social function of art to reform the harsh reality of Minjung and the nation with criticism toward society as well as art world. Their art theory for MinJung could grow relatively ease in relation to changing social and political conditions in the early 1920s. In August, 1925, PASKYULA organized the Korea Artista Proletaria Federatio with the YeomGunSa, and laid the groundwork for Proletariat art movement which was regularized in the late 1920s. From PASKYULA up to the early state of KAPF, the theory of art advocated by Kim Bok-Jin and An Seok-Ju could be summarized as "art for MinJung". At that time, widely ranging discourses on MinJung, however, was spawned in art theory, because many intellectuals`─`including artists and writers`─`begun to pay more attention to MinJung, who emerged as one of the social forces after the Samil Independent Movement. Sometimes, MinJung was construed as the target of enlightenment from a negative viewpoint. On the other hand, several intellectuals under the influence of individualism asserted that the discussion itself on MinJung exerted an evil influence on art. In contrast of these cases, the PASKYULA artists including Kim Bok-Jin, An Seok-Ju perceived that MinJung had the potential to change society, and regarded them as "a creator of genuine civilization and art". In the PASKYULA artist's writings, the concept of MinJung was often overlapped with the meaning of the Choson nation suffering under colony. Although their concept of MinJung was transformed gradually into the proletariat as they were under the strong influence of socialism, it did not change that they grasped the realities of the whole Choson Peninsula through the proletarian consciousness. In the early state of PASKYULA, the methodology for social function of art was presented in a twofold manner. First of all, Kim Bok-Jin emphasized on the necessity of education to improve MinJung's way of life through art, and it was embodied by the organization of ToWol Art Workshop and public lecture. Also, he championed "the popularization of art", which was one of methods to distribute art to MinJung. According to the PASKYULA artists, art should be not art for art's sake but art for MinJung. That was why they advocated the convergence of art and MinJung's life. Especially Kim Bok-Jin affirmed a link between art and industry because he considered industry the field inextricably linked with MinJung's life. In this context, his idea could be read as the generalization and equalization within the framework of possession. Kim Bok-Jin thought that the social ramifications of capitalism deprived MinJung of their right to enjoy art, and emphasized the artist's social role to return the right to them. That is, the even distribution of art was mainly discussed than the contents of art in the half of 1920s. By 1925, the contents of art itself became an issue in the PASKYULA art theory, and it was based in realism. Kim Bok-Jin and An Seok-Ju insisted that art should be reflection of real life. At that time, realism acquired the representation of MinJung and the nation's realities not realistic style. In fact, the various Western art styles including Futurism, Constructivism, Cubism etc. were exploited in the PASKYULA's visual images. Western art, target of criticism on theory, was selectively adopted in the works which were produced by Kim Bok-Jin and An Seok-Ju. Kim Bok-Jin's MoonYeUnDong cover design was conceived of as the example in which Western art was adopted with it's ideology under the influence of MAVO, while Western art shown in An Seok-Ju's illustrations served as a decorative function in many cases. Especially, An Seok-Ju attempted the various styles of Western art simultaneously, which may be seen as representing that PASKYULA did not have a firm ideology for their style. Also, it can be read as showing his hasty zeal to overcome Western art rapidly. The wish to establish "art for MinJung" as soon as possible was accompanied with the will to jump over the all steps of Western art though it was superficial. This aspiration of PASKYULA was expressed through the mass media, which had the potential for communicating to MinJung. At this point, there was a significant disparity between PASKYULA and another art groups in the first half of 1920s. However, the PASKYULA's method on the basis of the mass media could not but have a certain limitation because of the medium's properties. Nevertheless, PASKYULA?attempts may be considered to be valuable in sense that they expended the boundaries of Korean modern art into the commercial art questioning the matter of the distribution for art.

From the late 1920s to the 1930s, Korea’s fine art community focused on traditionalviewpoints as their main topic. The traditional viewpoints were discussed mainly byKorean students studying in Japan, especially oil painters. Such discussions on tradition canbe divided into two separate halves, namely the pre- and post-Sino-Japanese War (1937)periods. Before the war, the modernists among Korea’s fine art community tried to gain afuller understanding of contemporary Western modern art, namely, expressionism,futurism, surrealism, and so forth, on the basis of Orientalism, and borrow from theseschools’in order to create their own works. Furthermore, proponents of Joseon’s avant-garde fine arts and artists of the pro-fine art school triggered debate on the traditionalviewpoints. After the Sino-Japanese War, these artists continued to embrace Westernmodern art on the basis of Orientalism. However, since Western modern fine art wasregressing into Oriental fine art during this period, Korean artists did not need to researchWestern modern fine art, but sought to study Joseon’s classics and create Joseon’s ownavant-garde fine art in a movement led by the Munjang group. This research reviews thetraditional view espoused by the Munjang group, which represented the avant-garde fineart movement of the post-war period. Advocating Joseon’s own current of avant-garde fine art through the Munjang literarymagazine, Gil Jin-seop, Kim Yong-jun and others accepted the Japanese fine artcommunity’s methodology for the restoration of classicism, but refused Orientalism as anideology, and attempted to renew their perception of Joseon tradition. The advocation ofthe restoration of classicism by Gil Jin-seop and Kim Yong-jun appears to be similar to thatof the Yasuda Yojuro-style restoration of classicism. However, Gil Jin-seop and Kim Yong-jun did not seek their sources of classicism from the Three-Kingdoms and Unified Sillaperiods, which Japan had promoted as a symbol of unity among the Joseon people;instead they sought classicism from the Joseon fine art which the Japanese had criticized asa hotbed of decadence. It was the Joseon period that the Munjang group chose as classicism when Japanwas upholding Fascism as a contemporary extremism, and when Hangeul (Korean writing system) was banned from schools. The group highly evaluated literature written in the styleof women, especially women’s writings on the royal court, as represented by Hanjungnok(A Story of Sorrowful Days). In the area of fine art, the group renewed the evaluation of notonly literary paintings, but also of the authentic landscape paintings refused by, and thevalues of the Chusa school criticized as decadent by, the colonial bureaucratic artists,thereby making great progress in promoting the traditional viewpoint. Kim Yong-junembraced a painting philosophy based on the painting techniques of Sasaeng (sketching),because he paid keen attention to the tradition of literary paintings, authentic landscapepaintings and genre paintings. The literary painting theory of the 20th century, which washighly developed, could naturally shed both the colonial historical viewpoint whichregarded Joseon fine art as heteronomical, and the traditional viewpoint which regardedJoseon fine art as decadent. As such, the Munjang group was able to embrace the Joseon period as the source ofclassicism amid the prevalent colonial historical viewpoint, presumably as it hadaccumulated first-hand experience in appreciating curios of paintings and calligraphicworks, instead of taking a logical approach. Kim Yong-jun, in his fine art theory, definedartistic forms as the expression of mind, and noted that such an artistic mind could beattained by the appreciation of nature and life. This is because, for the Munjang group, theexperience of appreciating nature and life begins with the appreciation of curios ofpaintings and calligraphic works. Furthermore, for the members of the Munjang group, who were purists who valuedartistic style, the concept of individuality presumably was an engine that protected themfrom falling into the then totalitarian world view represented by the Nishita philosophy. Such a 20th century literary painting theory espoused by the Munjang groupconcurred with the contemporary traditional viewpoint spearheaded by Oh Se-chang in the1910s. This theory had a great influence on South and North Korea’s fine art theories andcircles through the Fine Art College of Seoul National University and Pyongyang Fine ArtSchool in the wake of Korea’s liberation. In this sense, the significance of the theoryshould be re-evaluated.