Graceful Fortitude: The Spirit of Korean Women

For more than 2,000 years, Korea was strongly influenced by Confucianism (a Chinese code of moral conduct predicated on a series of hierarchical relationships), which accorded lower status to women. Nevertheless, throughout Korean history, women overcame many obstacles and created important art. In the early twentieth century, partially in response to outside influences, Korean women came to demand equal rights.

This installation introduces art created by, for, and/or about Korean women and features paintings, prints, photographs, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, lacquer, furniture, and personal adornments dating from the twelfth through the twenty-first centuries. It also includes recently acquired works by contemporary Korean women artists AHN Seongmin, NA Suyeon, and PARK So Eun, among others. This exhibition is co-curated by 2017-18 Korea Foundation Global Museum Intern Michelle Chaewon Kim and JSMA chief curator Anne Rose Kitagawa.