[One Thousand Characters a Day] Jeong Yeoul's 'Art Museum Only for Me' <1>

Editor's NoteThese are paintings that we happen to encounter in museums, art books, literary works, or scenes from films, and the moment we see them, they seep into our hearts, making us want to keep them close forever. Paintings that make us smile for no reason and feel as if flowers are blooming in our hearts?we call these ‘life paintings.’ When we quietly gaze at these paintings, even the shabby and diminished feelings of yesterday seem to shine brilliantly once again. Jeong Yeoul, a literary critic, humanist, and essayist who has explored the beauty of literature and art, has published an art essay ＜A Museum Only for Me＞, containing 50 such life paintings. As you stroll through this intimate collection, where beautiful paintings blend with the author’s personal life stories, readers will also want to create their own ‘gallery only for me.’ Word count: 982.

Great works of art create a ‘room of one’s own’ within our hearts. Inside my heart, there are many secret places of beauty: Vincent van Gogh’s room, Claude Monet’s room, Pablo Picasso’s room, Georgia O’Keeffe’s room, Mark Rothko’s room, and more. My healing space is not only a place that physically exists on earth but also a place that does not appear on any map, has no address, yet certainly exists within our hearts. Just as we never forget the place where the excitement of first love began or where we first held that person’s hand, I will never forget van Gogh’s room, Monet’s room, or Klimt’s room. These are the places where the dazzling constellation called art begins to be drawn in my heart.

Whenever all my efforts seem to come to nothing, whenever I realize that this world is not as warm and kind as I dreamed, I endured difficult times by thinking of van Gogh. Even when the outside world is incredibly noisy and full of pain and shock, van Gogh’s star shines in ‘my heart’s healing space,’ allowing my weary heart to finally rest. Even in broad daylight, when I close my eyes, van Gogh’s starry night with its ultramarine sky and lemon-colored starlight sparkles three-dimensionally in my heart like a 3D movie. At any time during the day, I can immerse myself in van Gogh’s starlight within my heart.

We can build healing spaces within our hearts this way?by forever planting the seeds of traces of our beloved beings in the soil of our hearts. As long as the seeds of van Gogh’s starlight, Monet’s water lilies, and Klimt’s The Kiss nestle in my heart, I will never be lonely anywhere. The shower of emotion that art’s inspiration has sown in my heart will always gently moisten it. I want to gift you those countless ‘rooms of beauty’ and ‘seeds of healing spaces’ that have begun to build a home inside my heart. As long as the longing for places filled with love and hope remains, we will ultimately be able to endure these times of sorrow and melancholy.

- Jeong Yeoul, ＜A Museum Only for Me＞, Woongjin Knowledge House, 19,000 KRW