![\"Kim](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260731_01110128000001_M00.jpg\")
\uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 Kim So-hyung, CEO of PBG (Print Bakery), poses in front of an object created based on works by Moon Hyung-tae, Eddie Kang, and Choi Jong-tae. PBG
\n“Just as you choose bread at a bakery, anyone can enjoy art without feeling burdened.”<\/p>\n
PBG (Print Bakery), which began in 2012 as a division of Seoul Auction, started modestly. It aimed to create a culture in which anyone could own art by producing works by well-known artists as limited-edition digital prints. With prices ranging from 90,000 won to 4 million won per piece, PBG won strong public response. It spun off as an independent company in 2017 and has since grown into the country’s largest art platform. Kim So-hyung, 47, CEO of Print Bakery, has been with PBG since its early days. After majoring in design at Ewha Womans University, studying fashion in the United States, and later earning an MBA, he is the spouse of Lee Jeong-yong, CEO of Gana Art Gallery. When met at Seoul Auction’s Sinsa-dong headquarters recently, he emphasized, “At the core of PBG’s business is artist intellectual property, or IP,” adding, “The biggest change from the early days is that the very definition of what we sell has changed.”\n<\/p>\n
During its Seoul Auction days, the company focused on a single product category: prints. Now, it connects the artist as content itself with demand from a wide range of industries, including fashion, retail, spaces, and festivals. It serves as a platform linking limited-edition works by masters such as Kim Whanki, YYK, and Park Seo-bo, as well as artists’ character IP, with fashion, IT, and lifestyle brands. Representative examples include a collaboration between artist Kim Sun-woo, who paints the extinct dodo bird, and Bulgari; a sound collaboration between Kim Chang-yeol, known as the “water drop artist,” and Bang & Olufsen; and a meeting between young artist Lee Hee-jo, who paints everyday life, and Starbucks.\n<\/p>\n
The industry has recently described PBG as having entered a full-scale art IP war. But Kim said, “We are not just now jumping into an IP war,” adding, “PBG was, in fact, an IP business from the very beginning.” He explained, “From the start of our print business, we have been reinterpreting and expanding artists’ works in various ways. I think the time has come to make the essence of this business clearer.”\n<\/p>\n
The IP strategy he describes is not simple image licensing. The key is the “artist universe,” meaning the artist’s worldview itself is expanded into a brand experience. “People do not consume something just because it is a pretty image. What matters much more is what kind of narrative the artist has and how relatable the world they create is.”\n<\/p>\n
In other words, PBG’s direction is to discover and nurture artists, then expand their work into IP that various industries and brands can connect with. That approach became more concrete in April, when the company opened a branch in Paris. The goal is to introduce Korean artists to the European market while building a base for global IP business. The “IP Showcase,” to be held from Aug. 10 to 13 at Seoul Auction’s B4 exhibition hall, will be the first opportunity to present PBG’s capabilities to the industry. On the first day, Aug. 10, it will separately host an “Art IP Conference Day” and hold a talk show with art collectors, artists, and other stakeholders.\n<\/p>\n
“Once an image is copied and consumed, that is the end of it. But an artist’s worldview can keep expanding and evolving. That is why PBG is pursuing an ‘artist IP’ model, not a one-off collaboration, building a worldview with artists over a long period and connecting it to various businesses.”\n<\/p>\n
Kim outlined a specific vision, saying, “There are two major areas we will focus on going forward.” The first is discovering artists. “Until now, we have mainly developed artist groups centered on painters, but going forward we are expanding into craft artists as well, including lacquer artist Heo Myung Wook. With the K-culture boom, foreigners are showing tremendous interest in Korean things.”\n<\/p>\n
By working with the Korea Craft & Design Foundation (KCDF) for many years, the company has helped open distribution channels for domestic craft artists, and through that effort it operates the craft-focused brand Sugoondang.\n<\/p>\n
The second is expanding distribution channels. “We are expanding the e-commerce platform PBG beyond a simple art sales channel into a commerce platform where goods, lifestyle, and brands all meet. We plan to curate and present a refined lifestyle tailored to people in their 30s to 50s.”\n<\/p>\n
[Senior Reporter Lee Hyang-hwi]\n<\/p>\n
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