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Books with Pictures ‘Uhwa Company’

Meeting Art Through Books

 

2018.07.31

 

Globally renowned artworks have been brought together in books. The artwork in these books has been duplicated meticulously for readers to experience what they would feel if they were standing in front of the original works. These collections are usually known as gallery books, and Uhwa Company is a leader in South Korea’s publishing industry when it comes to these publications. This piece takes a look inside the art they do.



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Art as Art

 

Books that present art as they are. Uhwa Company says they began their work in order to help readers feel the same emotions through their books as they would if they were looking at famous original paintings around the world. Their efforts continue to this day to convey the beauty and emotions of paintings to readers, and help them feel like the pictures they see in books look more like the original than the original itself by enhancing the quality of the prints.

 

Uplicating original artwork’s characteristics

 

Gallery books are created for people who cannot easily travel to see famous paintings and those who wish to retain the emotions they had when they first saw famous artwork at an exhibition or gallery. Uhwa Company’s Gallery Book Series 1 - Vincent Van Gogh has duplicated Van Gogh’s work to the last detail that readers feel they are actually looking at the original work. Uhwa Company creates gallery books that are differentiated from other publishers in order to deliver the beauty of artwork to readers.

 

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Books where watercolor textures and colors come alive

 

The biggest advantage of offset printing is the speed. Uhwa, the CEO of the company, said the company felt if would succeed in creating books that would be loved by many if they could create a print with offset printing that looked as if it had been painted on. This was in 2002. After researching and testing various methods for 15 years with that goal in mind, the company created its first gallery book. In order to test the quality of the company’s print, the workers traveled to art galleries in the Netherlands in the spring of 2017. There they went to the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller where the most Van Gogh paintings are on display. At this art museum, the company was told that no one had seen this kind of quality before in a gallery book. The art museum, too, had high-quality Van Gogh books but none had the brush strokes and color like the Uhwa Company book did. The head of the company said the gallery books could never fully replace seeing the original work, but it comes quite close - closer than any other gallery book.

 

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Moving people with gallery books

 

The biggest appeal that gallery books have is their beauty. Uhwa says after the company published Gallery Book Series 1 - Vincent Van Gogh, they were told, “This must be what Van Gogh’s paintings must really look like” most often. The company stresses the appeal their gallery books have that carry the same beauty the original paintings do. Uhwa recalls when the company was struggling in developing and researching a new printing method, they visited a Van Gogh exhibition that was ongoing in Seoul. When they saw the paintings in person, they felt a thrill and were swept away unlike when they experienced the paintings in books and on the internet. That compelled the company to work harder in creating a gallery book that would instill the same emotions in other adults and children. The company head later visited all the cities that had Van Gogh paintings in their galleries - Paris, Amsterdam and Othello. All of his works were documented and created into data for the company’s gallery books.
When the company’s goal was first created, the company wished their books would be loved by people both inside and outside South Korea. Uhwa Company says they plan to officially start their offshore business in October at the Frankfurt international book fair in Germany. At the book fair they plan to introduce a gallery book for children so that children can enjoy famous artwork. The company hopes, in turn, they will receive much interest and love from publishers of children’s books.

 

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Uhwa Company, maker of beautiful books

 

Uhwa Company is preparing to publish the second installment of the Van Gogh series called Gallery Book Series 2 - Vincent Van Gogh by October this year. Uhwa says they had planned it as a two-part series from the beginning as Van Gogh has many famous paintings that cannot all be published in one book. The company is currently in the process of analyzing Van Gogh’s “The Red Vineyard”, which is currently on display in Russia, and “Starry Night” in New York. The next series will feature Claude Monet and Gustav Klimt as well as Johannes Vermeer, whose paintings have yet to be perfectly duplicated in a printed book as his blue hues are so unique.
After these gallery books are printed, Uhwa Company also plans to publish a series called Big and Small Art Museums that have prints of well known paintings from around the world. They would also like to combine their work with IT technology to enable the public in experiencing famous artwork through augmented reality(AR) or virtual reality(VR). The process in creating a single gallery book is very tough and difficult. Despite this, Uhwa Company has created a gallery book after much research and testing so that all people can experience art on paper. Uhwa Company says it would like to publish books that are beautiful and special to achieve their goal of being remembered as a company that creates beautiful books by people who love art.

 

 


Written by Lee Jung-hwa
Photographs provided by Uhwa Company

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Lee Jung-hwa

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