Loyal Jindo

76 x 101 x 4cm /  29.9 x 39.7 x 2″
Acrylic on canvas
The sides of the painting are finished in gold enamel

This painting is available from StART Art Korea, Seoul

In 1993, a 7-year-old female Jindo named Baekgu (백구; 白狗; translated as a White Dog), raised by Park Bok-dan (박복단), an 83-year-old woman on Jindo Island, was sold to a new owner in the city of Daejeon which is located about 300 km (186 miles) away from the island. The dog escaped her new home and returned to her original owner, Park, after 7 months, haggard and exhausted. Baekgu remained with her original owner, who decided to keep the loyal dog, until the dog died of natural causes 7 years later. The story was a national sensation in South Korea and was made into cartoons, a TV documentary, and a children’s storybook. In 2004, Jindo County erected a statue of Baekgu in her hometown to honour the dog.