Nam Kwan (1911-1990), a pioneer of Korean abstract art, delved deeply into Asian imagery and symbolism at the front-line of the world art scene in post-World War II Paris.
Leaving in 1955 for Paris, then the epicenter of painters and artists from around the world, Nam spent 13 years before returning home, having achieved a series of historic achievements there. "I was no more than a painter from a foreign country. At the time, Paris, after World War II, was witnessing such active abstract painting movements that it was not an exaggeration to say it was a golden age of abstract art," Nam recalled of his time in Paris in his article contributed to a local magazine in 1971.

Nam's contemplation was translated into filthy walls, dilapidated courtyards or ruins of cold castles and monuments in his painting works, images he took from Asian or Korean relics. Images reminiscent of ancient Asian scripts and Chinese characters are also a signature motif frequently adopted in his paintings.