S. Sam Park

Having followed across the continents, his dream to drink from the wellspring of Impressionism, S. Sam Park arose from sleep to greet a cool mid-June morning in the small French Village of Vallauris, one of the many that dot the coastline of Provence. After sharing a simple breakfast of crisp baguette, fresh made orange juice and fruit with his wife, Jennifer and young son, Se-June, he gathered his tools, easel and canvas, and set out to find the spot he decided to paint the evening before. This was one of two daily, mirror-like rituals that defined his simple life in this seaside town.

Standing between the azure sky and the sea, Park could feel the sun on his face as he took in the beauty of the countryside before him. While Gauguin had traveled halfway around the world to Tahiti to get away from a France he found too polluted with civilization, Park had traveled halfway around the world to get there. He found the warm hillside and seaside of the South of France rivaled Gauguin’s description of the South Seas. “You don’t need to look for poetry here,” Gauguin had written, “It is there for all to see, and all you need to evoke it is to give your dreams their head.” Turning his attention to the blank canvas on his easel, Park started painting. He began, as always, with the sky.

“If I can capture the sky, from whose light all colors flow, I know the rest of the picture will fall in place”, Park related in a recent conversation, “Next I paint the sea. Finally, I fill in that which lies between.”

The internal prism through which Park refracts the scene before him produces a soft romantic light, a manifestation of the sense of harmony and serenity that Park seeks to experience and convey. While some artists seek to challenge and confront the viewer, Park seeks to reassure. Soon the canvas is filled with beautiful, refreshing, invigorating color, as if you could feel the gentle breezes that are blowing from the Mediterranean.

It has not been an easy journey to reach this point in his life. Beside the usual obstacles to succeed as an artist, Park had to overcome the strident resistance of his traditional minded Korean family. For five generations, the extended Park family had only one son, Sung Sam Park. He was the only son for his generation, and as such shouldered the burdens and expectations of a proud family. “Be an engineer, or something, anything respectable,” his father had exhorted him. But young Sam would not be deterred or dissuaded from his sense of destiny.

Born in 1949 in Seoul, Korea, Sung Sam Park began painting at the age of twelve. His talent and teaching abilities were quickly recognized and by the age of thirteen, while still a junior high student, Park taught at the local high school.

Early on, Park attracted the attention of prominent artist and heads of state. Byun Si-Jin, former University president of Jai Island, was his private art teacher and mentor. The former president of South Korea, Yoo Bo-Sun, personally awarded him many First Places in the national competitions of the Mok-Woo Art Society. Park is still the youngest person ever to have competed in these competitions.

After graduating from Jung Ang University in 1973, Park traveled to France, where he studied painting and lived with other young artists in Paris. His artistic style today clearly reflects the inspiration of the French Impressionists.

Sam Park returned to Korea briefly in 1984 to participate in the national Olympic-sponsored art competition for the upcoming 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. With more than two thousands entrants in the competition, Park won and received a Gold Medal. Following the Olympics, Park’s painting was purchased by the Hyundai Corporation for permanent display at their corporate headquaters. In 1986, Park became a member of the jury of Heart and Mind Artists Association of Korea, which is the organization that assesses all artwork presented for juried competition in that nation.

Park then returned to Europe, where he lived for the next fourteen years, in Greece, Cyrus and France. While living on Cyrus, Park was commissioned by the President of Cyrus to paint the First Lady’s portrait. This and five other paintings by Park are currently displayed in the collection in the Presidential Palace. A painting that Park did while in Greece was of Michael Dukakis’ birthplace, and was later purchased by the former Governor of Massachusetts and presidential hopeful.

While in Europe, Park continued to study and to evolve his vision of impressionism and hyper-realism. He established himself in several European galleries, and continues to exhibit in many of them today. His works were written up about in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the European Travel Press and Euroko, a Korean magazine in Europe.

Park came to the United States in 1994, where he continues to live on the coast of Southern California. He had exhibited in several American galleries and in March 1996, he first exhibited at the New York ArtExpo. In March 1998, Soho Editions, his exclusive publisher, introduced his first limited edition works. Since that time Park has exhibited in many gallery shows throughout the United States and Canada.