Felix Abt, who runs the Pyongyang-based PyongSu Pharmaceutical Company, has launched a company to market North Korean art.
From the Pyongyang Painters website:
Pyongyang Painters has the privilege to be one of the very few on-line galleries outside the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) permitted to sell art and to represent leading artists as well as new talents from this very special country. But unlike others, it is exclusively specializing on North Korean fine arts and will, over time, introduce you to the largest and most representative collection of artworks. Special attention will be given to female artists as well as promising younger talents. Buying with www.pyongyang-painters.com, you contribute to the development of art and artists in North Korea.
The initiators of this website are Felix Abt and his wife Huong who have been living in Pyongyang for many years and who have had the opportunity to get acquainted not only with the country’s institutions involved in fine arts but also with numerous artists across the country. A close partner in Pyongyang is the Paekho Arts Trading Company which is less famous than the Mansudae Arts Studio. But it is at least as dynamic and it enjoys fast growth thanks to its impressive pool of artistic talents.
We are also pleased to announce that Christine Cibert, an experienced French Art Curator & Cultural Events Coordinator & Free-lance Writer is an advisor and consultant to pyongyang-painters.com and to its clients. Christine has lived and worked in North Korea for several years and gave birth to a son in Pyongyang. Her expertise in North Korean fine arts and paintings is outstanding and we are glad that our clients can resort to her competent advice, in particular when it comes to special requests beyond the paintings shown on this website.
Since there is little exposure to the outside world the North Korean form of art is considered very pure. North Korean artists are loyal to their country and, like any other citizens, adhere to the country’s political philosophy. In the absence of influences by contemporary art trends from the rest of the world the painters have, in a unique manner, developed their own techniques and the use of colors in an original style.
The paintings exhibited include, among other things, a variety of beautiful sceneries of nature and of North Korean daily life. These pieces of artwork will give you a rare insight into the lives and thoughts of the people of this country.