Globe and Mail’s revelation that a Canadian tourist may have stumbled upon a propaganda painting of Kim Jong-Un’s youth in Switzerland has been met with increasing skepticism since the announcement. DailyNK has spoken with a North Korean defector with a degree in fine arts, who counters the evidence that the portrait is of grandson Kim Jong-Un:
…the angle of the man’s face and line of vision reflect a formula used in innumerable official portraits of Kim Il Sung, who of course did not pose for every picture in which he appeared, and that the background is a homage to the North Korean founder’s time as a revolutionary in cities in places like Jilin and Harbin in Northeast China.
On all levels this portrait resembles the Kim Il Sung seen in cultural films about his revolutionary tradition, for example “The Star of Chosun” and “Sun of the People”.
Not only that, but as one North Korean defector who worked in the arts said, “If this was really a portrait of Kim Jong Eun for his glorification, it would have been distributed systematically by the Department of Agitation and Propaganda,” adding that, “It doesn’t make any sense that a glorification portrait of Kim Jong Eun which hasn’t even been published in Pyongyang yet would have been on display in the Rajin Art Gallery in October.”
“When I look at this picture, it looks like something a student from Pyongyang Art University might have submitted for their graduation piece,” he added.
Myth busted, I suppose! However, it’s likely only a matter of time before idolization portraits of the Youth Captain start circulating among the North Korean people to hang next to Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il.
Source: DailyNK
