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Category Archives: Book reviews: Art

Kim Young-na: Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea

05-Feb-07

Kim Young-na: Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea

(Hollym, 2005) Stern(10,g) A brief but action-packed overview of twentieth century Korean art history, which can be read alongside Kim's other book covering the same period, published by Lawrence King. While her Lawrence King book is a collection of essays focusing on particular subject areas, the Hollym book has a linear narrative which leads you through the key movements and trends. Despite being shorter than her other book this one is more balanced and has more detail on on one or two areas, for example minjung art and the art of the last 15 years. Well illustrated and well-written, this book is available free to any enterprising Seoulite who rings the lost property office for subway line 3. They should have my copy, which ...
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Chung Hyung-min: Modern Korean Ink Painting

03-Jan-07

Chung Hyung-min: Modern Korean Ink Painting

(Hollym, 2006) Stern(8,g) A well-illustrated and easy-to-read book which traces the development of ink painting in the 20th century from its roots in the Chosun dynasty: the famous "court" painter O-won (Jang Seung-eop, 장승업, immortalised in Im Kwon-taek's Chihwaseon), and the literati style perfected in Kim Jeong-hi (김정희). Chung emphasises the importance of the short-lived (1911-19) Seohwa Misulhoe (서화 미술회 - the Fine Art School of Calligraphy and Painting) which taught many of the painters who were to become the leading lights of post-liberation Korean art, preserving the old traditions through the dark times of the Japanese colonial occupation. Chung documents the different influences on the Korean tradition: interaction with artists in Shanghai; the introduction of Western styles from the time of the late ...
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Kim Young-na: 20th Century Korean Art

31-Jul-06

Kim Young-na: 20th Century Korean Art

(Lawrence King, 2005) Stern(9,g) A collection of articles, turned into a book. As I'm neither an art critic nor an art historian I'm going to restrict myself to a chapter-by-chapter summary of the ground covered. A useful overview of colonial period art. Highlights the difficulty of studying & researching the art history of the period, in part because of the interconnectedness with Japanese art history, the complications of colonialism, and also because of more practical considerations that much of the artwork has disappeared or been destroyed, and that many of the artists ended up in the North and so it has been difficult to get access to them and their works. One thing to come across quite strongly is the fact that, at ...
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Judith G. Smith (ed): Arts of Korea

17-Apr-06

Judith G. Smith (ed): Arts of Korea

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998) Beautifully illustrated with articles on Pottery, Buddhist Culture, Landscape Painting and other topics. A seriously lavish book, with a price tag to match. I'll comment further once I've dipped into it. Related posts:Jane Portal: Korea - Art and Archaeology (British Museum Press, 2000) A well-illustrated book with chapters dealing...Kim Young-na: Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea (Hollym, 2005) A brief but action-packed overview of twentieth century...Korean Ceramics: Arts and Techniques. Or, Why don’t people talk to each other? KOREAN CERAMICS: ARTS AND TECHNIQUES TALK BY DAUPHINE SCALBERT Thursday... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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Roderick Whitfield (ed): Handbook of Korean Art - Folk Painting

17-Apr-06

Roderick Whitfield (ed): Handbook of Korean Art - Folk Painting

(Laurence King Publishers, 2003) Stern(6,g) Part of a series of small books on Korean Art, this one is great to have on the bedside table. Each written section on a particular aspect of folk art takes a minute or so to read and is accompanied by several pages of examples and illustrations. Other books in the series deal with pottery and Buddhist sculpture. Related posts:Korean folk music site Thanks to Andrew Logie for telling me about windbird.pe.kr. The...Books on Korean Heroes Probably a fairly straightforward question from a visitor in the...Kim Hunggyu: Understanding Korean Literature ME Sharpe, 1997 Written in 1986 and expertly translated by... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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Jane Portal: Art under control in North Korea

17-Apr-06

Jane Portal: Art under control in North Korea

(Reaction Books / British Museum Press, 2005) Stern(8,g) An interesting, easy to read book cataloguing the different art forms in North Korea. Some of the works, particularly poster art, are on display in the Korean room in the British Museum. The book carefully avoids making judgements about the quality of the work. Link: Review by Ken Vos at the Museum Anthropology Review site Buy at Amazon Related posts:Jane Portal: Korea - Art and Archaeology (British Museum Press, 2000) A well-illustrated book with chapters dealing...Paul French: North Korea - the paranoid peninsula (Zed, 2005) Highly readable and wide-ranging book on North Korea....Coming soon: Artists, art and culture of North Korea In what has got to be a contender for... Related posts brought to you ...
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Jane Portal: Korea - Art and Archaeology

17-Apr-06

Jane Portal: Korea - Art and Archaeology

(British Museum Press, 2000) A well-illustrated book with chapters dealing with the art of the different historical periods. This book is on my reading pile and I'll comment once I've read it. Related posts:Jane Portal: Art under control in North Korea (Reaction Books / British Museum Press, 2005) An interesting, easy...Judith G. Smith (ed): Arts of Korea (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998) Beautifully illustrated with articles on...Art & Archaeology London galleries The British Museum has a reasonably large room... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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