[인터뷰] Elmehed, Artistic Director of the Nobel Committee
‘Gold’ was used to create a portrait with a ‘breaking news’ feel.
Pride in contributing to publicizing the achievements of those who created history
After finishing the portrait, I started reading ‘The Vegetarian’.
“The portrait released along with the news of the Nobel Prize selection is a piece of ‘breaking news.’ “I did a lot of research to capture the individuality of those who wrote human history, while at the same time giving the pictures a feeling of breaking news.”
As novelist Han Kang (54) became the first Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, attention is also focused on Swedish painter Niklas Elmehed (47), who painted a portrait of Han Kang that was released along with the selection news on the Nobel Committee website. In particular, the yellow-gold face and subtle, knowing smile were evaluated as having well expressed the image of the Han River. In a written interview with Dong-A Ilbo on the 15th, artist Elmehed revealed that he paid attention to these aspects while drawing the portrait. The following is a Q&A.
―Since being appointed artistic director of the Nobel Committee in 2012, he has painted portraits of Nobel Prize winners every year. It must be a special feeling to receive attention from around the world and to record a meaningful event that will remain in history for a long time.
“I feel great pride in being able to publicize the great achievements of the award winners to the world and participate in even a small part of the history they are writing. “For this reason, I put my whole body’s concentration into work, but it doesn’t feel like a burden and I enjoy working on it.”
―When depicting the winners, is there any meaning you want to convey or anything you pay special attention to? Does the feeling of the portrait differ depending on the award category, such as the Peace Prize or the Culture Prize?
“I don’t even consider the field of the award, but instead I try to express the faces and feelings of each awardee. In particular, we try to give a lot of strength to the hairstyle to express the individuality of the winner. The portrait of the winner is usually chosen with a calm expression and a gentle smile. When drawing a portrait of artist Han Kang, I also tried to capture his hairstyle and unique smile, and the process of expressing his long hair with 10 to 12 thick lines was especially fun. In addition, since this is a picture used during the ‘first announcement of winners’, we always try to capture the feeling of ‘breaking news’. So, in the beginning, I tried using blue in order to come up with a method of expression that was weighty yet eye-catching, but since 2017, I have been using gold, which gives a better sense of texture and three-dimensionality compared to other colors. After experimenting with different types of gold paint, he settled on very thin gold leaf that could be attached to the portrait using a special adhesive. “I thought that the combination of the black outline contrasting with the white background and the textured gold color would really have the effect of catching people’s eyes like breaking news.”
―I have been drawing portraits of award winners for over 10 years. Are there any award winners that are particularly memorable during your work?
“I try to draw pictures that reflect the unique feelings of all award winners, but I think it is especially memorable when someone who is well-known to the public receives the award. For example, Malala Yousafzai and American singer Bob Dylan (winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature). “Especially as an artist, if the winner is well-known to the public, it is bound to be more memorable to think that millions of people around the world will see my work.”
(Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani human rights activist who advocated for women’s right to education despite threats of death from the Taliban, an Islamic extremist militant group. In 2014, at the age of just 17, she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize, making her the ‘Face of the Middle East’. ‘ is also called.)
―Other than the award selection judges, they are one of the very few officials who can know the selection results in advance. Don’t people around you ask who the winner is? Since you are from Sweden, I think people around you will be very curious if a Swede is mentioned as a leading candidate for the Nobel Prize in a certain year.
“Actually, when I’m working on a portrait, I’m so busy that I don’t have time to meet other people. So I don’t think there’s any time to ask questions that might embarrass me.”
―Have you ever read author Han Kang’s works?
“Today, after finishing work, I finally started reading ‘The Vegetarian.’ “I haven’t read much yet, but so far I’m finding it very interesting.”
―Do you tend to read the works of Nobel Prize winners in literature?
“That’s right. I tend to read everything I can find (even works published after receiving awards). Most recently, I read ‘Clara and the Sun’ published in 2021 by Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. “I was left with a sad feeling after reading it, but it was still very good.”
―Lastly, you are one of the portrait artists who paint the most famous people in the world. Is there anyone other than Nobel Prize winners you would like to draw a portrait of?
“Personally, I want to draw portraits of artists in history. And when it starts, I think Pablo Picasso will be the first hitter. “As a painter he is very good and has an interesting face to depict.”
