From Goguryeo tomb murals to Jang Seung-eop — daily life and guardian deities, Goryeo Buddhist painting, early Joseon landscapes, true-view landscapes and genre painting, literati and folk painting
Jeong Seon · Public domain · Source
| Work | Period · artist | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Muyongchong hunting scene | Goguryeo, 5th c. (Ji’an) | Mounted hunters; stone-chamber tomb mural; vigour |
| Cheonmado | Silla, c. 500 (Cheonmachong) | Painted birch-bark mudguard from a stone-mound tomb |
| Four Guardians, Gangseo Great Tomb | Late Goguryeo (c. 600) | Blue dragon, white tiger, red bird, black tortoise; Daoist |
| Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara | Late Goryeo (14th c.) | Buddhist painting; colour and gold; sheer veil; mostly in Japan |
| Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land | Joseon 1447 · An Gyeon | Prince Anpyeong’s dream; real world to paradise; Tenri Univ. |
| Scholar Gazing at the Water | Mid-15th c. · Gang Hui-an | Contemplative scholar; literati painting; Zhe school |
| Plants and Insects | Early 16th c. · attr. Sin Saimdang | Plants, flowers, insects; delicate colour |
| Complete View of the Diamond Mountains | 1734 · Jeong Seon | True-view landscape; circular composition |
| Inwang jesaekdo | 1751 · Jeong Seon | True-view landscape; Mount Inwang after rain; dark-ink rocks |
| Village School · Wrestling · Boy Dancer | Late 18th c. · Kim Hong-do | Commoners’ life; no background; circular composition; humour |
| Dano pungjeong · Lovers · Beauty | c. 1800 · Sin Yun-bok | Urban romance and leisure; fine lines; bright colour |
| Folk painting (tiger and magpie, ideographs, books) | Late Joseon · anonymous | Home decoration; wishes of commoners |
| Sehando | 1844 · Kim Jeong-hui | Painted in exile for Yi Sang-jeok; literati painting; pines of loyalty |
| Two Horses and a Man, etc. | Late 19th c. · Jang Seung-eop | Bold brushwork; one of the Three Won; bridge to modern painting |
A mural in the Goguryeo Tomb of the Dancers: mounted warriors twist back to shoot at fleeing tigers and deer — an image of Goguryeo vigour.
A Silla painting from the Cheonmachong tomb in Gyeongju: a white horse flying across a saddle flap — almost the only painting surviving from Silla.
A late Goguryeo stone-chamber tomb with a passage, its four walls painted with the Four Guardian Deities.
Goryeo Buddhist paintings of Avalokiteshvara seated on a rock by the water — rich colour and gold with exquisitely transparent veils.
An Gyeon painted in three days the peach-blossom paradise Prince Anpyeong saw in a dream — a monumental landscape leading from the real world into paradise, masterpiece of early Joseon painting.
Gang Hui-an’s painting of a scholar resting on a rock gazing at the water — the ideal of the literatus who forgets worldly affairs and cultivates himself in nature.
Paintings of grasses and flowers with the insects among them, attributed to Sin Saimdang — delicate observation and colour by a woman painter.
Jeong Seon gathered the peaks of the Inner Diamond Mountains into one circular composition — a true-view landscape with sharp lines for rock and soft ink dots for earthen hills.
Jeong Seon painted Mount Inwang as the mist lifts after rain — a masterpiece of “true-view” landscape painting drawn from Korea’s own scenery.
The court painter Kim Hong-do depicted commoners at work and play — the village school, wrestling, a boy dancer — in humorous circular compositions without backgrounds.
Practical paintings by anonymous artists to decorate homes — tiger and magpie, birds and flowers, ideographs and books — full of commoners’ wishes for luck and long life.
Sin Yun-bok painted the pleasures and romances of urban aristocrats and women in delicate lines and bright colours — Dano pungjeong, Lovers under the Moon and Portrait of a Beauty.
Painted by the exiled Kim Jeong-hui for his student Yi Sang-jeok, who kept sending him books — pines and cypresses in winter as a symbol of unchanging loyalty.
The late Joseon painter Jang Seung-eop painted figures, animals, birds and flowers with bold brushwork. Grouped with Kim Hong-do and Sin Yun-bok as the “Three Won”, he bridged traditional and modern Korean painting.
Painter who pioneered “true-view” landscapes of Korea’s own scenery; his masterpieces include Inwang jesaekdo and Geumgang jeondo
Twenty-first king of Joseon, known for his impartiality policy and tax reform, and for the death of his son
Jiphyeonjeon scholar executed as one of the Six Martyred Ministers for plotting with Seong Sam-mun to restore Danjong
Jiphyeonjeon scholar who helped create Hunminjeongeum, wrote the Haedong jegukgi after a mission to Japan, and became Chief State Councillor under Sejo
Hall of Worthies scholar executed for plotting to restore Danjong; one of the Six Martyred Ministers
Fourth king of Joseon, creator of Hangul, patron of science and of the northern frontier
Court painter who portrayed King Jeongjo and is best known for genre scenes of commoners such as The Village School and Ssireum; he died around 1806
Twenty-second king of Joseon, founder of the Gyujanggak library and builder of Hwaseong Fortress
Painter of the leisure and romance of urban aristocrats and women in fine line and colour, as in Dano pungjeong and Portrait of a Beauty; year of death unknown
Epigrapher and calligrapher who created the Chusa style, identified the Bukhansan stele as King Jinheung’s, and painted Sehando in exile on Jeju
Twenty-fourth king of Joseon, enthroned at eight while the Pungyang Jo and Andong Kim clans fought for power; the 1839 persecution took place in his reign
