[6] Na demonstrated her artistic talent from an early age and graduated at the top of her class at Jinmyeong Girl's High School in 1913.

[7] As a young woman, Na was known for her high spirits and outspokenness, making it clear she wanted to be a painter and an intellectual, rejecting the traditional "Good Wife, Wise Mother" archetype.

After her graduation from Jinmyeong Girls' High School in 1913, Na majored in Western oil painting at Tokyo Arts College for Women.

She also published a piece called A Divorce Testimony in the magazine Samcheolli in 1934, raising issues with gender inequality endorsed by Korean morality and tradition.

[16] It was A Divorce Testimony that ultimately ruined Na's career, as her views were regarded as scandalous and shocking, since traditional Korean Confucian culture considered premarital sex to be taboo and women were not to speak frankly of their sexuality.

[18] In order to bring a more personal differentiation to her work, Na’s style underwent a shift from brighter, prominent colors to ones that were less vibrant.

[18] Other characteristics of Na’s personal style include: a “specialty in landscape”; “bold, confident, and spontaneous brushstrokes”, and experimentation with texture, exemplified in South Gate of Bonghwan Fortress (1923).

[18] Additionally, two of her paintings, Ch’onhung (Tianhou Temple) and Garden received the “...highest award in Western oil painting…” in 1926 and 1931, respectively.

[18] These issues all took their toll on Na, which was attributed to another shift in her artistic style, “with loose structure and rough hasty brushstrokes” exemplified in Peonies in Front of Hwanyong Hall (1933) and Hongnyu Waterfall (1937).

[18] Although Na is remembered primarily for her literary work on early feminism, she has also impacted modern Korean art through several known pieces that reflect both her beliefs on gender roles as well as her life's trajectory.

The dark palette of the background blends with Na’s hair and dress to create a flat surface for her face to stand out, drawing viewers’ eyes to her expression.

The carved and partially shadowed face, the dark, deep eyes, and the slightly pressed and pursed mouth convey weariness and agony.

Despite the fact that she looks both western and modern in terms of appearance and attire, the darkness in this painting's coloring (black, silver, brown, peach) shows how she was still stuck within a society where conservative ideas were holding women back from achieving real and significant social changes.

The depressing look she dons in the painting indicates the hardship of living as a New Woman in a patriarchal and complicated society of early 20th century Korea; her firm, straight gaze points to her conviction in her ideals.

She is also gazing somewhere else rather than directly at the viewer, which could represent how the freedom and fluidity in gender roles she was seeking was unable to be found in the conservative society she was living in.

BTS’s RM introduced it along with the nine other pieces through an audio message spoken in both English and Korean, a testament to how influential and respected Na is nowadays for her art.

A similar painting by Na is titled Dancers (c. 1927 – 1928) and depicts two apparently western women wearing brown and white fur coats.

This painting evokes an image of luxury and sophistication through the way the women are elegantly posed, indicating that it is unlikely that the fur coats were worn solely out of necessity for the frosty weather.

The darker color scheme she uses in this painting is similar to that of Self-Portrait (i.e. brown tones) and is used in much of her other work as well, reflecting both the tragic life she lived as well as her mental state at the time.

The artwork was recognized by Kim Yi-sun, a professor of Korean modern art at Hongik University, to be from Na's collection book.