Endless Mountains and Rivers

Lee Yongwoo (1902–1952) was a representative modern Korean painter who studied at a calligraphic and artistic exhibition run by Ahn Joon-sik and Cho Seok-jin. He was selected several times for promotion, and he was a skilled painter who used various genres and styles.
Endless Mountains and Rivers was designed with ambition at the request of supporters while the artist stayed at a wealthy man's house in Gangneung after his liberation from colonial rule. Originally, the topic of 'Gangsan Mujin' was very popular in China and Korea, and it belongs to 'Kenmansui' which expresses the sublime beauty of Mother Nature. However, at the request of the orderer, Lee Yong-woo draws the actual images of the eight landscapes of Kanto, including Gyongpo-dae, in some paintings, and combines the real and ideological elements into a huge picture. He also added elements of folk paintings by delicately portraying human beings living as small "part" of this amazing nature. Lee Yong-woo's ambitious work, which boasts a total length of 21.7 meters on beautiful silk, is a representative new collection of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2020.