In the 1970s, a monochrome painting style called Dansaekhwa, which translates to "monochrome painting," flourished in South Korea. The artists of the Dansaekhwa movement represented a break with the cultural past in an encounter with Western modernism and an attempt to assimilate modern styles. The artists involved rejected realism and figuration and adopted a monochrome palette and artistic techniques that emphasized the surface of the canvas.
