Ko Hei-Tong / Hui-Dong

Place: Korea

Born: 1886

Death: 1965

Biography:

Ko Hŭi-dong, also known as Ko Hei-Tong / Hui-dong, was a Korean artist born in 1886 in Korea and died in 1965 in South Korea. He is known for pioneering the application of Western techniques to traditional painting styles in Korea. After World War II, he became a member of the South Korean government of Syngman Rhee. His self-portraits are particularly notable for their embodiment of the predicament of understanding contemporaneity in a time of change. Ko Hŭi-dong is considered as the first Western-style painter of Korea.