Easy and Essential knowledge of Korean art, Folk arts of Joseon

Folk arts of Joseon

 The theme of literary paintings in the early and mid-Joseon dynasties was expressing an aspiration for an ideal, transcendent world or a gorgeous space within nature. However, the folk paintings started from the painting bureau or ordinary people in the mid Joseon Dynasty abandoned the characteristics of the past and began to change into art in daily life. The paintings have begun to change not just as the foster's aim, nor as a tool of royal necessity, but as part of the lives of ordinary citizens.
 


 The power of the people begins to strengthen, and the art that deals only with the purpose of the lesson or the story of the legend begins to deal with the subject of reality. This is not only the flow of Korean art, but also the Western art history as well.
Neoclassicism and post-Romanticism are slowly transformed into Realism, start with a pioneer, Courbet, and to an Impressionism, which accurately depicts moments of the light. The more the reality reflects more, the more critical the content of society becomes. The Korean folk paintings, which have appeared more and more after the 17th century, also contain these social criticisms, but they have other unique features that distinguish them from paintings and features of that from the West.

A wild cat steals a chick(야묘도추,野猫盜雛),Kim Deuk-sin

 ‘The humor, comical effect’ is a unique feature of Korea that can be easily found not only in literature but also in the field of art. The <A wild cat steals a chick(야묘도추,野猫盜雛)> by Kim Deuk-sin is a work that shows the characteristics of Korean humour. This work, which is also called , <Broken Silent(파적도,破寂圖)>, has a vivid display of life, in a mere landscape, but with a sleek line of brush gives a lively and fast expression. There will be no one who does not laugh after look the pose of the man hanging on his head as if falling into the yard, and the mother chick that is chasing a cat to save her baby. Unlike the works of the previous era, the one who wore  tang-geon*, the icon of noble, but falling down from the floor, even without his shoes, and it shows the changed order of the post – Chosen’s caste system. The painter made fun of the fallen man without adding or subtracting the reality but with it self. 

 *tang-geon : A horsehair skullcap formerly worn by officials under their hats

Fairy crossing the sea(선동도해,仙童渡海), Sim Sa-jeong

Steal the peache from paradise,(낭원투도閬苑偸桃), Kim Hong-do

 Sim Sa-jeong’s <Fairy crossing the sea(선동도해,仙童渡海)> and Kim Hong-do's <Steal the peache from paradise,(낭원투도閬苑偸桃)> are also eye-catching works. Both works portrayed a desire for immortality but sadness of the reality that they could not achieve it. In the <Fairy crossing the sea(선동도해,仙童渡海)>, the boy monk is sad to fail to find the medicines of eternal life, but after the abandonment, a calm expression of the young monk is noticeable. On the other hand, Kim Hong - do 's <Steal the peache from paradise,(낭원투도閬苑偸桃)> contrasts with the gladness of Dongfang Shuo, who steals the peach, which will give him an eternal life. The audience is laughing through these expressions of the young monk and the Dongfang Shuo.

Hearing the sound of a  oriole  on a horse(마상청앵,馬上聽鶯
), Kim Hong-do

 Not only humorous but also characteristic of folk paintings is abstract expression through simplification. The painter makes the background appear brief or boldly depending on the needs and focus on the person and the situation. Kim Hong-do's <Hearing the sound of a  oriole  on a horse(마상청앵,馬上聽鶯)> is a work that depicts the gentleman, who is captivated by the singing of Oriole Tiger. There is only a lane and a willow tree.

 Simplifying the subject makes to expresses the subject effectively as wanted. This makes it easier to concentrate on the willow tree and the character in the painting so that views can easily feel the emotions rather than other landscapes but the character feeling. 

Play the saenghwang under the moonlight(월하취생,月下吹笙), Kim Hong-do

 There is a major opinion of the artist Kim Hong-do's<Play the saenghwang* under the moonlight(월하취생,月下吹笙)>  as a self-portrait of the painter. The liquor behind the painter seem to be satisfied at first glance, but the blank background and the word ‘月堂凄切勝龍吟' add to the lonely atmosphere.

 *A reed instrument (consisting of a number of pipes of different lengths)
 **月堂凄切勝龍吟 : 월당의 생황소리 용울음보다 처절하네, The flute sound of a guru is more desperate than the dragon's cry in the moonlight house
 
 

Dano Scenery(단오풍정,端午風情), Shin Yun-bok

Detail 

 However, not all the folk paintings have abstract features.

 Shin Yun-bok's <Dano* scenery(단오풍정,端午風情)> depicts the scenery of Korean geishas and the young monks who are hiding behind them and steal a glance at them. This scenery shows and reveals late Joseon dynasty’s ridiculous manner.
 *Dano : Dano is a holiday that falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is celebrated after the rice seedlings are transplanted and is regarded as the time of year when the natural forces of yin are weakest and yang is strongest. There are many customs associated with this holiday, including washing one''s hair with water in which sweet flag leaves have been steeped, picking mugwort and motherwort, riding swings, archery, and ssireum(Korean wrestling).(Source: ET-house) 

Portrait of a beauty(미인도,美人圖), Shin Yun-bok

Detail

 <Portrait of a beauty(미인도,美人圖)> depicts a beautiful figure of the day, on a large canvas. A detailed geisha’s hairstyle, little sock out of beautifully drafted dress and a short three coloured top that was popular at the time makes people to think she existed in a real world. Since the painter depicts the geisha as a model, unlike the portrait of the nobles, the painter could express the beauty that he had without adding or subtracting. Because of that reason, this painting shows the aesthetic sense of the Joseon Dynasty.
 

 
 Unlike western history of art, which has a similar characteristic and flows through the ages, the paintings of the middle of the Chosen dynasty developed at the same time as the literary paintings and the folk paintings which were coexisted and possessed by all classes.
  
 It is impossible to enumerate the order of genres of paintings by an era. This characteristic is also found in contemporary Korean art as well. The monochrome, which began in the 1970s and became popular again in the 2010s and is undergoing a re-evaluation, and the Realism paintings that emerge again afterwards, are the same as those in which literary paintings and folk paintings shared the same era in 17^th century.I think that this form coexistence of abstraction and realism reflects the longing desire of the Korean people who want to express mental tranquillity while expressing their agonies of reality as well.




This work uses public works of [Gansong Art & Culture Foundation] according to Public Nuri Type 1.




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