The Mysterious Art Museum

Chapter 21 (1) - The Mysterious Art Museum

I noticed a common element in all the paintings of Alphonse Mucha I had seen.

It was the circle.

He often incorporated many circles into his paintings, filling them with meaningful content, creating an effect similar to thought bubbles in modern comics.

The piece I colored for a competition entry also featured three circles.

In these, he depicted flowers and vines visible outside the living room window, and instead of a clock, he painted a blue sunflower. The last circle contained a beehive pattern encapsulating all of the family's memories.

"I need a circle for the Mucha style."

I set aside the previously used drawing paper and picked a larger sheet, placing it on the canvas. Then, I drew a large circle in the center of the screen.

Alphonse Mucha typically filled these circles with the images of beautiful women, embellishing the outer areas with tree vines or flowers.

People think it's hard to draw a perfect circle without a compass, but it's not really that difficult. By folding another sheet of paper into a square, sketching lightly, rounding the corners, and then erasing the outer lines, you can easily create a circle.

There are other methods too, like sketching a rough circle and refining it, using cross points and central axes, or drawing half-circles and joining them, but these can make the drawing somewhat messy.

The giant circle, covering 80% of the entire drawing. I adjusted the height of the canvas and stood up, as the paper was too large to draw on while sitting.

I drew this large circle because I was inspired by one of the artists I thought of for borrowing ideas.

"Katsushika Hokusai's Bishufujimigahara."

A late Edo period Ukiyo-e artist in Japan.

Along with Toshusai Sharaku and Utagawa Hiroshige, he is considered one of the figures who ushered in the golden age of Ukiyo-e. Some argue that Sharaku was actually Sin Yun-bok from Korea, but this is not confirmed.

His most famous work in Korea is one of the "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," specifically "The Great Wave off Kanagawa," which is not only famous as a painting but also as the motif for Claude Debussy's symphonic work "La Mer."

However, the painting that inspired me today was Bishufujimigahara, which depicts Mount Fuji as seen from Fujimigahara near Nagoya.

In his painting, there's a naked man creating a large, hollow cylinder.

Through the open space between the cylinders, Mount Fuji is visible in the distance.

There are theories that this huge cylinder was used for brewing sake or that it was a bathtub.

The small depiction of Mount Fuji within the circular frame.

I plan to fill this circle with the village of Roseto Valfortore instead.

**

At eight o'clock in the evening.

The time when some are leaving for home and others are staying for overtime.

Monica, having finished her work, sat on the office sofa with Suyoung, waiting for Junghoon. Creating a painting can take a lot of time.

Some paintings can be completed in an hour, while others may take a month. Although a person undergoing a test wouldn't spend so much time, Monica had no set deadline, so she had no choice but to wait for Junghoon after work hours.

Sooyoung peeked at the studio door and whispered, "Junghoon has been in the studio for ten hours now, Monica."

Sooyoung lowered her voice not to disturb Junghoon, who was concentrating. Monica replied in a similar tone.

"Yes, I know. Let's wait another 10 minutes, and if he doesn't come out, we'll have to get him dinner."

"I'll look for a place that does takeout."

"Do that in 10 minutes."

"Okay, Monica."

In fact, Monica had already decided during lunch to pass Junghoon's test.

If Junghoon had come out within an hour or two, she would have just smiled and informed him of his passing.

But contrary to expectations, Junghoon hadn't come out of the studio for ten hours.

"I'm starting to get excited."

A painting done in a day.

And a painting drawn to prove himself. She hadn't expected much, but a painting completed after ten hours of work was a different story. She felt a hint of anticipation.

After about 7-8 minutes, just as Monica was about to order dinner, the studio door silently opened.

Monica and Sooyoung almost simultaneously turned their heads to look. They saw Junghoon's pale, tired face.

Discovering them, Junghoon checked the wall clock and gave a weak smile.

"I'm sorry, it's past closing time."

Monica and Suyeong got up together. Suyeong quickly approached Junghoon and checked his complexion.

'His complexion is too pale, he needs to rest now.'

Suyeong's worried gaze. Monica crossed her arms and approached Junghoon and said.

"What kind of picture did you draw for ten hours?"

Junghoon smiled faintly and then opened the studio door wide.

A large picture on the canvas.

The picture, which still had some paint that had not dried, filled Monica's eyes.

Suyeong was also curious, so she leaned her head behind Junghoon and brightened her expression.

"It's such a beautiful picture!"

It is a very beautiful picture even from the perspective of Suyeong, who had seen the beautiful paintings drawn in the Renaissance period.

If this was not a picture of a nameless painter in Korea, but a picture of a person who left a name historically, it would be unimaginably beautiful how much it would be worth.