[Square] Time Heading Toward Naro

Kim Bora, Director of Seongbuk-gu Art Museum

When visiting an art museum and encountering a self-portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606?1669), one often startles as if unexpectedly meeting someone long known. Although there is no way to see the actual appearance of a 17th-century painter, the approximately 100 self-portraits Rembrandt painted over 40 years were more than enough to make his face familiar. These numerous self-portraits scattered across various locations were dramatically brought together at the turn of the millennium. A historic exhibition titled "Rembrandt by himself" was held at the National Gallery in London.

The desire to show oneself is likely a human instinct. People constantly reproduce themselves through various visual images, words, writings, or avatars in virtual reality in everyday life. The difference lies only in what and how each person chooses to show themselves.

Rembrandt chose the method of introspection to reveal himself. To reflect the harsh life of an artist who experienced war and lost loved ones first, he projected the reality he stood on directly into his paintings. This is why we seek truth in his self-portraits. He revealed his appearance as it was, perhaps accomplishing the most difficult task.

The universal value of this is well understood in the recent case where the Dutch government spent 200 billion won to purchase a Rembrandt self-portrait from France. Many later artists, such as Goethe and Gogh, were deeply inspired by him. Rembrandt’s self-portraits are like diaries found within the flow of life.

The French thinker Michel de Montaigne (1533?1592) left a self-portrait through writing. About 500 years ago, he made a new attempt with the free-form writing style called "Essais," which became the origin of the essay. His purpose was not entertainment or knowledge but to write in a way that allowed him to look inward. He focused on his own archetype.

Near the Sorbonne University still stands a statue of Montaigne. How many people must have been lost in thought and anguish before it? He became a mirror-like figure for many philosophers. That a free spirit living amid the chaos of the Black Death and religious wars ultimately turned inward toward himself enables timeless reflection. What he pursued was simply to reveal himself naturally, plainly, and without pretense.

It is that difficult to see oneself as one truly is. Moreover, the process of revealing oneself without distortion and being recognized by others is never easy. Montaigne’s long period of seclusion and immersion in himself proves this effort.

We now face a time of unfreedom. Because the new wars brought about by this era continue, it is likely no different from the crisis periods in which Rembrandt and Montaigne lived. However, this change has sparked a small hope that the attention once directed outward can be turned back inward. When looking at Yun Dong-ju’s poem "Self-Portrait," one sees a person confronting a bleak reality and striving to find their true self before a strange reflection. Nothing is predetermined. There is only life that hopes for positive change.

Long habits have led us to admire others and follow predetermined categories of success. Because of this, we may be living a life that is not truly our own but that of others. As a new year begins, how about planning a journey toward yourself to create your own self-portrait?

Kim Bora, Director of Seongbuk-gu Art Museum