SPOTLIGHT 25/11/14 Korean diocese to preserve mural by French missionary

[성기화 요셉]

Father André Bouton created murals across South Korea during his decade-long ‘artistic missionary work’

Andong Bishop John Chrisostom Kwon Hyok-ju and Mayor Kwon Ki-chang display the agreement signed on Nov. 14 to preserve the mural created by Father André Bouton in 1973. (Photo: Catholic Times of Korea)

By UCA News reporter

Published: November 21, 2025 09:48 AM GMT

Updated: November 21, 2025 10:10 AM GMT

A Catholic diocese in South Korea has signed an agreement with the local administration to preserve a more than 50-year-old mural by a French Benedictine priest and register it as a modern cultural heritage.

The mural by Father André Bouton (1914-1980), estimated to have been created in 1973, was uncovered from within the walls of Andong City Urban Regeneration Support Center and was unveiled in January.

The mural measures 3.5 meters in width and height, and depicts a couple performing a traditional Korean wedding ceremony with motifs that are distinct from traditional Korean artistic styles.

At a ceremony held on Nov. 14 at the site, Andong Bishop John Chrisostom Kwon Hyok-juand Mayor Kwon Ki-chang signed an agreement for the preservation and utilization of Bouton's Mural.”

“I hope the mural's excavation and this agreement become a starting point for the Catholic community and the Andong region to renew their bonds of friendship,” Bishop Kwon said.

The prelate pointed out that the mural was commissioned due to “the deep friendship” between René Marie Albert Dupont, the first Bishop of Andong, and Yoo Han-sang, the first director of the Andong Cultural Center.

On the same day, the Andong Diocese organized a photo exhibition tracing Father André Bouton's legacy in the Gyeongbuk region at the cultural center titled “Mural paintings, the landscapes we meet again,” The Korea Times reported.

Reportedly, Bouton had carried out “artistic missionary work” through murals in South Korea during the 1960s and 1970s.

Through the agreement, the diocese and the local administration aim to register the murals as modern cultural heritage, ensuring continuous management for preservation, and developing cultural content using them.

Bouton arrived in South Korea in 1966 and worked at the Order of Saint Benedict Waegwan Abbey. During his 10-year-long stay in the country, Bouton created several murals in a distinctive artistic style called Fauvism.

Fauvism was an early 20th-century modern art movement that originated in France, lasting roughly from 1905 to 1910.

The movement's name, meaning les Fauves or wild beasts, was a derisive term coined by a critic.

Strong, non-naturalistic colors, bold brushstrokes, and a focus on painterly qualities over realistic representation characterize paintings created by those following the style.

Bouton expressed the local life and culture of Korea through his paintings and tried to combine the indigenous culture with Christianity to share Christian messages and teachings through the images.

In the Cathedral of St. John the Worker in Daejeon, there are 10 mural paintings. Among them, eight murals were covered in white paint, trapped in the wall between 1977 and 1979.

As part of the parish’s centennial anniversary in 2019, the church community recreated Bouton’s murals.

* This is a translated and edited version of the article that first appeared on the Catholic Times of Korea on Nov. 19 and has been republished with permission.