Kim Whanki’s 1954 'Dapgyo' Goes to Auction for First Time in 71 Years, Opening at ₩1.5 Billion
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Seoul auction house K-Auction will feature 108 lots on November 26, including five works by modern Korean master Kim Whanki (1913–1974). A 1954 painting, 'Dapgyo' (답교) — depicting the traditional first full-moon folk game 'bridge stepping' (다리밟기) — appears at auction for the first time with a starting bid of ₩1.5 billion and an estimate of ₩1.5–2.5 billion. The work, noted for its muted blue-gray field, prominent moon and restrained figures and trees, has been included in major retrospectives of Kim’s art. Other Kim pieces, including an untitled work showing transitional Paris–New York experiments, and large-scale works by Lee Dae-won and Lee Bong-sang, will also be offered. International names such as David Hockney and Yayoi Kusama are among the non-Korean lots. A public preview runs Nov 15–26 at K-Auction’s Sinsa exhibition space, free and open without reservation.
