View of Mount Kumgang

DateChoson dynasty (1392-1910); Joseon dynasty (1392-1910); 19th century

MediumAlbum leaf; ink and colors on paper

DimensionsImage: 12 11/16 x 17 1/16 inches (32.3 x 43.3 cm)

CultureKorean

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGeorge and Mary Rockwell Collection

Terms

Paintings
Album leaves
Landscape
Colors
Ink
Bodies of water
Boulders
Cliffs
Dwellings
Men
Mountain ranges
Mountains
Pine trees
Temples
Valleys
Paper
Korean

Object number99.067.002

Label CopyFrom ancient times, Mount Kumgang, located in North Korea, was widely romanticized as an idealized land in literature and painting as far away as China and Japan. But it was not until the eighteenth century that the depiction of Mount Kumgang as native scenery was elevated by painter Jeong Seon (1676–1759) to a new art form known as “true scenery” or “true-view.” Jeong Seon not only accomplished a fair number of heroic paintings that captured the mountain fully but also painted intimate scenes of locations within Mount Kumgang. His “documentary” style painting was strongly influenced by a literary movement at the time that had popularized poetry based on the observation of nature and the experiences of travel. The two album leaves here follow Jeong Seon’s style of depicting Mount Kumgang from two different viewpoints: an upward view at the foot of the Mount Kumgang, and an overlook view from the top of the Mount Kumgang. By combining earlier Korean painting trends with a new Chinese-inspired fashion of the Southern school, the artist successful interpreted distinctive features of the mountain. ("Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation in East Asian Art," curated by Cornell PhD student Yuhua Ding under the supervision of Ellen Avril and presented at the Johnson Museum January 23-June 12, 2016)

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