These intensely colorful works are by Park Saeng-gwang (1904-1985). Amazing fact: all these Korean-style paintings were created only in his final 8 years.

Park went to Japan at 17 and painted Japanese-style art for 30 years. After 1945 liberation, Korean art world rejected Japanese influence. He lived in seclusion, searching for his own path.

In the late 1970s, at over 70, Park began amazing transformation. He started what he called "Naego"—returning to the original place.

Look at "Tiger and Peony" screen. Primary colors explode—red, blue, yellow, green. These are Korea's traditional five colors. He combined Japanese techniques with Korean vitality.

See "Mask" and "Zodiac Animals" works. These aren't simple tradition but complete modern reinterpretation of shamanism, Buddhism, and folk painting. Forms come alive like ritual performances.

The black-and-white "Dragon" shows another side. Without color, he perfectly expressed divinity and power through contrast alone.

Park's genius: he made tradition "live again" rather than just copying it. His approach was "inside-out"—creating from Korea's inner spirit rather than copying foreign styles.

His 1977 solo exhibition shocked Korea with "perfect modern expression of Korean painting.“

Park's "Naego" wasn't nostalgia but making tradition newly experienceable today. That's why his paintings feel intensely modern, not old.

Standing before his works, we ask: "Where did I come from?" and "What colors am I painting myself with now?“