“True” Korean Landscapes & Virtuous Scholars

“True” Korean Landscapes & Virtuous Scholars

During Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), literati and professional artists created a new type of landscape painting that combined classical Chinese models with native Korean scenery. Famous historical sites such as the Diamond Mountains were visualized as both real and ideal spaces in a development fueled by heightened national consciousness and a boom in tourism. This exhibition, co-curated by Anne Rose Kitagawa, chief curator and curator of Asian art, and Gina Kim (MA, art history, 2014) Korea Foundation Global Museum Intern, features a number of distinctive Korean landscape paintings, maps, and travel attire. A second theme explored is that of Korean Neo-Confucian scholars who wore pure white clothing and used undecorated porcelain vessels to symbolize their lofty aspirations of frugality and virtue.