THE KOREAN RENISSANCE

JOSEON ERA ART

Edited By Leela Trumbo

COLLECTED BY LEELA TRUMBO Rainy Landscape, Kim Sugyu


HISTORY
OF THE JOSEON ERA
As the longest period in Korea’s history, the
Joseon period stretched from 1392 to 1910.
Largely regarded as the “Korean Renaissance”
this period marked a time of rapid expansion in
the arts, literature, architecture, government,
philosophy, and religion. The early portion of
the era saw the invention of the Korean alphabet,
Hangeul, under the rule of Sejong the Great,
shepherded in governmentt reforms that benefited
the common man rather than just the ruling class
and established Seoul as the capital. The Middle
era was marked with a period of invasions from
the Manchu form northern China as well as from
Japan but those gave way to 200 years of peace.
Ruled by a class of scholar-officials Korea thrived
and grew, this is the period regarded as having
the highest artistic achimenes in the fields of
painting, pottery, architecture and literature. The
late part of the Joseon era introduced western
influence where Korea responded by going into an
isolationist period due to a huge push back against
progressivism. This stunted Korea’s growth and
taking advantage of the instability Japan slipped in and
annexed Korea; sufficiently ending the Joseon Era.
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TIMELINE
1392: Yi Seonggye is crowned king,
officially beginning the Joseon
Dynasty.
1396: Capital moved to Hanyang.
(modern day Seoul)
1402: Paper currency initiated.
1446: The Hangul alphabet, created
3 years earlier, is promulgated by
King Sejong the Great.
1592: The Japanese invasion of
Korea begins under the command
of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Admiral Yi
Sun-Sin employs the Turtle ship to
repel Japanese naval forces.
1627: The first Manchu invasion.
1636: The second Manchu invasion.
1653: Dutch ship, with Captain
Hendrick Hamel, wrecked on Jeju
Island.
1866: French Campaign against
Korea.
1871: United States expedition to
Korea.
1876: Korean ports are formally
opened under the Treaty of
Ganghwa with Imperial Japan.
1894: Donghak Rebellion prompts
the First Sino-Japanese War and
Gabo Reforms.
1895: China recognizes Korean
independence in the Treaty of
Shimonoseki.
1896: 11 February. King Gojong
flees to the Russian legation in
Korea (Seoul).
Cranes and Peaches, Unknown

Dog Painting 변상벽의 개 그림, Byeon Sangbyeo

Jar with red bambus decoration
(National Treasure No. 166), Unknown

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 THE IDENTITY O
Like most art era’s it’s important to know
the influences that shaped the art of the
time. The major influences were Buddhist
art, Neo-Confucianism, China’s Ming
dynasty and Japanese traditional painting.
The Joseon Era was established by a ruling
class of scholars dedicated to making Korea
in the perfect Confusionist society. Bud-
dhism had been the prevailing religion be-
fore the instalment of the Neo-Confucian-
ist scholars who wanted to establish the
Confucianist ideals of morality, modesty,
discipline and austerity in Korean society.
Korea was a vassal state of China from the
establishment of the Joseon era up to Ja-
pan’s annexing of Korea in 1910. There was
a huge cultural exchange between Korea
and the two other major Asian countries;
with art pieces being imported or the art-
ists themselves would go to study abroad.
The most popular forms of art during this
period were portraits, Plein air landscapes
and genres pictures depicting everyday life.

Despite the waning popularity of Buddhism

in Korean culture, there was still a large
amount of Buddhist iconography being cre-
ated. Buddhist statues, paintings of Gauta-
ma, and zen poetry were still well received
by the Korean populous and members of
the ruling class. The Confucius influence
Genre Painting 혜원전신첩, Shin Yunbok

4
F JOSEON ART
on art created a style of art that was very
gentle, serene, pastel and depicted scenes
from the real world rather than the imagi-
nation. Art and literature are considered to
be an almost spiritual predicts in Confu-
cianism which is why there was such trac-
tion for the arts. The most renowned ruler
of this period was Sejong the Great created
the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, forged a
peace treaty with Japan and even fought
off the Manchu invasion to establish the
borders between Korea and China we see
today. The Neo-Confusionist beliefs that
shaped Joseon’s art continue to influence
contemporary Korean society and art.

The close relationships between Korea,

China and Japan meant that there was a
lot of overlap in the art styles at the time.
Koreans highly valued Ming dynasty ce-
ramics, especially white pottery which they
felt exemplified the ideals of Confucianism.
Ink-wash paintings from Japan shaped the
Korean traditional painting style, with the
introduction of realism, depicting 3-dimen-
sional forms and painting from real life.
Though the native artists mainly focused
on imitation there was also a movement to
establish a unique Korean art identity by
creating an arts university and promoting
Korean arts abroad.

5
 Portrait of Kang I-o 강이오의 초상, Yi vJaegwan

6
 It was during the Joseon era that Korea
began to solidify its national identity out-
side of the rule of foreign influences.Korean
artists began to fixate on realism, becoming
obsessed with creating 3-dimensional form
and capturing the likenesses of landscapes,
portraits and scenes of daily life.
The national art style evolved to focus less
on style and more on capturing the likeness
of the subjects, making sure that the unique
features of a person, building or landscape
were being captured. The Joseon period is
largely considered to be the era of the high-
est achievements.

PORTRAITURE
CAPTURING THE SOUL
With the establishment of the royal bureau give as much information about the subject
of Painting in the Joseon period the art of the painting as possible.
of portraiture became. There were more
portraits created during this era than there When western countries started to make
were any other types of painting. This was contact with Korea they brought with them
due in part to the prevalence of ancestor oil painting. Koreans were fascinated with
worship stemming from the beliefs sur- their ability to render forms and capture
rounding in Confucianism about the after- details. Despite going into an isolationist
life and from the cultural belief that your period towards the end of the Joseon era,
face reveals information about a person. The artists were still allowed to visit and share
royal bureau of Painting was established in their techniques. Korean artists would
the Joseon era and mostly produced por- apply these techniques to their ink paint-
traits of the royal family, important govern- ings since wild paint was so hard to get in
ment officials and members of the court. Korea. There were multiple styles of portrai-
ture like the Jinchae style of the Buddhist
These paintings were meticulous; the monks, the Baechae style inspired from
paintings would show the bone structure, Chinese art, and Hwawon which were royal
wrinkles, unique eye shape, skin tone, pos- academy painter just tvo name a few. The
ture and unique facial hair. The paintings advances in portraiture in this era influ-
were supposed to be more accurate than ence contemporary artist with Traditional
flattering with the focus on realism rather Korean Painting being a major that most
than a larger than life depiction of an indi- university with an art department offer. The
vidual. Much like European art at the time Joseon era was pivotal for Korea forming its
clothes were used to show off status and art identity, earning its title as the Korean
often included silk insignias, headwear that Renaissance for its influential reach decades
indicated station or other period clothing to into the future.

7
 CITATIONS
Kim Yang-na. 20th Century Ko-
rean Art. Laurence King, 2006.

Allan, Elisa. “Double Standard

for Feminine Ideals: What Ko-
rean Art Indicates about Gender
Roles in the Late Joseon Dynas-
ty.”

Choson Dynasty KoreanHistory.

info, koreanhistory.info/Choson-
Dynasty.htm.

Ho, Lee Tae. “Portrait Paintings

in the Joseon Dynasty: With a
Focus on Their Style of Expres-
sion and Pursuit of Realism.”
KOREA JOURNAL , vol. 25, no.
2, 2005, pp. 107–150.

“The Joseon Dynasty (1392–

1910).” Khan Academy, Khan
Academy, www.khanacademy.
org/humanities/art-asia/ko-
rea-japan/joseon-dynasty/a/
the-joseon-dynasty-13921910.

A Monkey Catching a Crab With a Pine Twig

[眼下二甲圖/안하이갑도], Danwon Kim Hong-do