Born in 1924 in Goheung, Korea, Kyungja Chun graduated from Tokyo Women's Art College. At the time of her enrollment, she exhibited at the Chosun Art Exhibition and received critical recognition as a painter by being selected continuously. Especially in 1952, she released the painting of a snake and was placed on a pedestal of critical attention. She transgressed from the traditional oriental painting technique and emphasized literary and narrative aspects, and used a fantasy, dreams, and solitude of a woman in fantastic colors. Her “Essay Paintings”, in particular, which is a series of paintings of Chun while she was travelling throughout the world, is regarded as a construction of her own unique stylistics. In 1955, she was awarded the Presidential Prize at the Korean Art Association. she has won numerous awards such as the Silver Culture Medal, the Art Association Prize, the 3.1 Culture Prize, the Seoul City Culture Prize, and the Oh-wol (May in Korean) Art and Literature Prize. From 1954 to 1974, she worked as a professor at Hongik University. And she has been a member of the National Academy of Arts, of the National Assembly, and of the art competition. All the works that she owned up until 1998 were donated to the Seoul Museum of Art and are permanently exhibited in the ‘Kyungja Chun Room'.

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  천경자 화백 1924년 전남 고흥에서 태어났고, 일본 동경여자미술전문학교를 졸업했다. 재학 시절 조선미술전람회에서 작품을 출품해 연속 입선하면서 일찍이 화가로서 역량을 인정받았다. 특히 1952년 뱀 그림 를 발표하여 화제를 모았다. 전통적인 동양화 기법을 벗어나 문학적, 설화적 면을 강조해 여인의 환과 꿈·고독을 환상적인 색채의 화풍으로 구사했다. 특히 세계일주를 하면서 제작한 여행풍물화는 천경자만의 그림 에세이라는 독자적인 화풍을 구축한 것으로 평가받는다. 1955년 으로 대한미술협회전에서 대통령상을 수상했으며, 은관문화훈장, 예술원상, 3·1문화상, 서울시 문화상, 오월문예상 본상 등 화려한 수상경력을 가지고 있다. 1954~1974년 홍익대학교 교수로 재직했으며, 예술원 회원, 국전운영위원, 미술대전운영위원 등을 지냈다. 1998년 소장하고 있던 전 작품을 서울시립미술관에 기증하여 ‘천경자실’에 상설 전시되어 있다.