Introduction

• • All of the works displayed in the Calligraphy and Painting Ⅱ section are masterpieces that have been specially selected to demonstrate the characteristics of each period. The section consists of three parts, the room of masterpiece and two thematic rooms. For the conservation of the paintings and calligraphy, exhibition replacements are planned thrice a year in this section.

  Themes Currently on Display

  • ○ Gallery 202-2 : The World Seen through the Eyes of Kim Hongdo (July 26. 2021. - December 26. 2021.) What would Joseon-era Korea have looked like through the eyes of Kim Hongdo (1745–after 1806), a canonical painter of the late Joseon period? Everyday Lives through the Eyes of a Traveler is an eight-panel folding screen depicting people’s everyday lives as observed by a traveler out on a sightseeing trip. Out on a fine day, a literati traveler on a journey by donkey comes across a county magistrate judging cases in the street, a blacksmith in his shop, and men and women working in the fields and paddies. At one point the traveler waits for a boat to cross the river. Kim’s mentor Kang Sehwang (1713–1791) added admiring comments on Kim’s wit and outstanding depictions on each panel of the folding screen. Please enjoy your experience of the lives of Joseon people with these images and texts.

     

  • ○ Gallery 202-3 : An Encounter with Daoist Immortals (August 24. 2021. - December 27. 2021.) Enjoying perpetual youth and a long life has long been a cherished dream. Unlike the transcendent gods, Daoist immortals are considered to be actual historical people who obtained supernatural power through ascetic practice or by consuming the elixir of life. A group of eight immortals came to be revered as legendary figures during the Yuan Dynasty in China. Since then, as they grew in number and into more secular beings, immortals came to be more approachable to whom people prayed for longevity and good fortune. People who longed for immortality but were still attached to the mundane world tried to emulate the tastes and refinement of immortals by traveling to view landscapes and by engaging in contemplation. The paintings presented here encourage viewers to encounter these mystical yet humane immortals.

     

  • ○ Gallery 202-4·5 : Appreciating Paintings and Calligraphy Joyfully (December 14. 2021. - May 8. 2022.) Appreciating calligraphy and painting can be pleasant. It is entertaining to follow the traces of a brush on paper or silk or to encounter skillfully added colors. For an even more enjoyable appreciation of calligraphy and painting, a few crumbs of information is presented here. When you read the texts translated from Chinese into Korean, you can better understand the sentiments of the calligraphers and painters of the past as they combined literature and imagination with reality and hope. Once you understand their sentiments, you see the lines and colors in the calligraphy and paintings from a different perspective. This exhibition features a wide variety of paintings and calligraphic works from the Joseon dynasty, including pure calligraphy and portraits, bird-and-flower, and decorative court paintings. We would like to invite you to immune with the ancients by immersing yourselves in appreciation of calligraphy and painting.