Stony Brook University Faculty of Sciences and Humanities

This article explores the life and art of Lanhei Kim Park(1902~1996), a pioneering female Western-style painter alongside Na Haesuck(1896~1948) and Paik Namsoon(1904~1994). Her multiple diasporic journeys through Manchuria, Japan, and America shaped her fluid identity and habitus as an Oriental in a multiracial American society. Her 1930s oeuvre holds historical significance within the context of Japanese imperial expansion and America’s rising global influence. Born in Pyongyang in 1902, Lanhei Kim’s diverse diasporic experiences in Manchuria and Japan preceded her arrival in America in 1928. Immersing herself in fine art at UCLA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Academy of Design in New York, she laid the foundation for her artistic career. Lanhei Kim navigated Chinatowns and Little Tokyos in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and New York, absorbing popular culture from Hollywood films to the Chicago World’s Fair(1933~1934), which reinforced her racial identity. Her 1930s prints and portraits fused Asian spirit with American cultural elements, resonating with Regionalism. Despite being a colonized subject in America, Lanhei Kim overcame ‘double colonialism’ to craft a unique narrative transcending ethnic and racial boundaries. This study challenges the Korea-centered paradigm of Korean art history by examining the understudied Korean diaspora in America, contributing to a transnational understanding of twentieth-century Korean art.

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