Price
₩4,000,000
Art protects art
8 out of 10
artists are shut out by banks
Until the next exhibition, the next performance. For artists, income gaps are an unavoidable reality. For fellow artists forced into predatory loans just to afford paint, canvas, and studio rent, proceeds from this artwork become the Seed Fund — extending a fair hand at fair rates.
Voices of fellow artists
“The memory of going hungry for three days, alone, so my children wouldn't know.”
— 50s, theater artist
166 artworks sold, each becoming a seed of solidarity
One artwork becomes the oxygen that keeps a fellow artist creating.
Sales proceeds go to the artist mutual-aid fund.
No 895
Kim Sanggu
- Category
- Printmaking
- Material
- Woodblock print on hanji What's a print? →
- Size
- 180×30cm · Extra large How big is this? →
- Year
- 2005
- Price
- ₩4,000,000
- Availability
- For sale
About the Artist
Kim Sanggu was born in Seoul in 1945 and graduated from Hongik University's Department of Western Painting and the same university's graduate school. He is a rare artist who persists in the seemingly anachronistic craft of woodblock printing and thoroughly manual processes in an era of mechanization in modern industrial society. Wood carving art is rooted in an Eastern artisan spirit and common sensibility, characterized by straightforwardness and simplicity rather than dazzling sophistication. In this sense, his woodblock printing is one of the most humane domains of artistic work, understood as something akin to the poetry of daily life that adds warmth to our society. His woodblock world can be summarized as 'the rustic over the splendid, the simplicity that permeates like an earthen wall rather than complexity, the flat over the three-dimensional, the contrast of black and white, and the beauty of empty space over fullness.' Since the late 1970s, the artist has continued to exhibit, and his recent works are woven through multi-color woodblock prints. Through the multi-color process, which demands meticulous labor, he broadens his expressive range while steadily pursuing works of consistency and depth.
Key Career Highlights
More Printmaking Artworks
View all Printmaking
Recently Sold
166 artworks sold recently
More about Kim Sanggu
Magazine
Kim Sang-gu: Fifty Years of Woodcuts Titled by Number
Kim Sang-gu has cut woodblocks since 1976, titling each work with a number instead of a name. A guide to the printmaker whose works reached the British Museum.
Sep 17, 2026 · Seed Art FestivalKorean Contemporary Printmaking — Five Lineages at SAF
Contemporary Korean printmaking, read through five artists at SAF 2026 — from Lee Cheolsu's woodblock Zen to Kim Jonghwan's broken-printer sculptures.
Apr 20, 2026 · Seed Art Festival
Why an Original Costs 10x More Than a Print by the Same Artist
Why does a print cost $300 while the original by the same artist costs $3,000? Three forces explain it: supply, scarcity, and signature premium.
May 3, 2026 · Seed Art FestivalRelated materials
Two beginnings made by one piece
- For you —
- One of a limited edition
- For the artist —
- the pride of standing with a peer
- For a fellow artist —
- a new ₩3,000,000 path of low-interest support
354 artists have walked this path of recovery; 95% returned to open it for the next.