HELLO from KOREA

46 _ HELLO from KOREA
Paintings by Kim Hong-do: Dancer and Musicians (left), Ssireum (right).
Kim Hong-do
(1745-?)
In the world of Korean painting, there have
been many brilliant talents, but among the
best was Kim Hong-do. While his landscapes
represent the best of Korea’s realism school
and his portraits are greatly admired, he,
along with Sin Yun-bok, is regarded as a flagbearer
for the style of genre painting depicting
the lives of common people, a style which
emerged in the later Joseon period. Thus
along with An Gyeon and Jang Seung-eop, he
is considered one of the three great masters
of the Joseon Dynasty.
It is said that when he was young, not
only was he talented, but also very charismatic,
which perhaps added to his style and
humor. He was reputed to be very attractive
and outgoing, and was popular among his
contemporaries; even the king liked him.
When he was 29, he painted a portrait of
the crown prince and when he was 44, he
travelled around the country painting pictures
of the local scenery, which were then
sent to the king. In his 50s, he painted landscapes
of mountains, trees and streams from
real scenes and created works that were
unique in their style and technique. Kim had
an excellent sense of space, and used swift
brush strokes to create strong lines, combining
them with soft colors which well represented
the emotions of the Korean people .
In his later years he devoted himself to
genre painting, the art that depicts scenes
from the ordinary events of everyday life.
This school of painting was an artistic criticism
of the aristocratic yangban and their
artistic tastes. This may have been somewhat
surprising, since Kim was a painter
employed by the government. His genre
paintings included his typically adept depictions
of mountains and streams, Taoist
immortals, flowers and grasses, but the
themes centered on people at work.
His works influenced the styles of many
painters to come and left a clear mark on the
history of Korean art. His paintings have also
served as documentation of the lives of the
Korean people during the period.
The paintings that still remain have been
designated national treasures and are exhibited
in major art museums.
But like many other artistic geniuses,
Kim Hong-do died lonely, suffering illness
and poverty.