KIM EUN-HO 김은호 (金殷鎬). Signed at lower right I-dang sa 以堂寫 (painted by I-dang); sealed Kim Eun-ho in 金殷鎬 (seal of Kim Eun-ho). Comes with a fitted paulownia-wood storage box and includes a protective futomaki roller.

Better known by the art name I-dang, Kim Eun-Ho (1892-1979) was one of the leading figures in modern Korean painting and among the last artists trained in the royal portrait tradition of the Joseon court. In 1912 he entered the Kyongsong School of Calligraphy and Painting, where he studied under Cho Seok-jin and An Jung-sik, receiving rigorous instruction in painting, calligraphy, and poetry. In 1925 he traveled to Japan to learn Japanese-style painting under Yūki Somei, attending classes at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. During a roughly three-year stay he achieved rare recognition for a Korean artist of the period, exhibiting paintings of Korean domestic life at the Seventh and Eighth Teiten (Imperial Art Exhibition) in 1926 and 1927. Renowned for his idealized portrayals of women and richly colored figure paintings, he went on to play a central role in shaping twentieth-century Korean painting and trained a generation of influential artists. His reconstructed portraits of historical figures helped establish the standard visual likenesses of several of Korea's most celebrated cultural figures, some of which were later adapted for postage stamps and banknotes.

In this rare hanging scroll, markedly different from female portraits painted after Kim’s return to Korea, the artist employs Nihonga techniques to create a sophisticated image that occupies the boundary between fine art and advertising. The meticulous treatment of the sitter's coiffure, delicate cosmetic coloring, and skillful use of translucent gofun shell powder lend the figure a glamour closely aligned with contemporary commercial illustration. Her attention is directed toward a bottle of Tongbo hair oil, while additional Tongbo products are prominently displayed in the foreground. Rendered with unusual clarity, these branded objects suggest that product recognition formed an integral part of the painting's original function.

One bottle is labeled PARFEUM TONGBO HAIR OIL, a second TONGBO SPECIAL PERFUME MADE IN KOREA, and a cosmetic jar KOREA TONGBO. Tongbo was among the pioneering Korean-owned cosmetics manufacturers that helped lay the foundations of the country's modern beauty industry during the colonial era. Producing hair oils, perfumes, creams, and similar goods for an increasingly fashion-conscious urban clientele, the company adopted the language of international luxury marketing, pairing its brand name with French terminology and Western-inspired packaging. At a time when the market remained dominated by imported Japanese products and Western luxury brands, Korean firms such as Tongbo sought to establish domestic alternatives. Kim's painting captures this emerging culture of consumption, presenting locally manufactured cosmetics not simply as everyday necessities but as aspirational objects associated with modernity, sophistication, and global fashion. The scroll thus offers a rare glimpse of the intersection of modern Korean painting, commercial imagery, and the ambitions of Korea's developing consumer economy.