A creative guide to a unique and beautiful form of Korean art, steeped in ancient tradition. Bojagi (wrapping cloths) are textiles pieced together from small scraps of fabric – they are a unique form of Korean textile art. The careful arrangement of shapes and colours shows an abstract composition which has made bojagi popular with … [Read More]
Booklist: Traditional arts heritage and folklore
Record of the Seasonal Customs of Korea: Tongguk sesigi by Toae Hong Sŏk-mo
Record of the Seasonal Customs of Korea (Tongguk sesigi) is one of the most important primary sources for anyone interested in traditional Korean cultural and social practices. The manuscript was completed in 1849 by Toae Hong Sŏk-mo, a wealthy poet and scholar from an influential family. Toae, with his keen interest in the habits and customs … [Read More]
Likeness and Legacy in Korean Portraiture
From the publisher’s website: This important book examines the history, process and significance of official portrait making during Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392-1910)—the country’s last and longest-ruling Confucian dynasty. By highlighting significant pieces in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco’s collection, including draft portraits of Bunmu meritorious officials and the portrait of Song Siyeol (1607-1689), … [Read More]
A Companion to Korean Art
From the publisher’s website: The only college-level publication on Korean art history written in English Korean pop culture has become an international phenomenon in the past few years. The popularity of the nation’s exports—movies, K-pop, fashion, television shows, lifestyle and cosmetics products, to name a few—has never been greater in Western society. Despite this heightened … [Read More]
A Representation of Nationhood in the Museum
From the publisher’s website: A Representation of Nationhood in the Museum examines how the National Museum of Korea, as a national repository of material culture and the state’s premier exhibition facility, has shaped and been shaped by Korean nationalism. Exploring the processes by which the museum has discovered and interpreted material culture, using concepts of ethnic … [Read More]
Bojagi – Korean Textile Art: technique, design and inspiration
From the publisher’s website: An exploration of traditional Koran textile art techniques. Bojagi, sometimes called Pojagi, is a traditional Korean textile art. Centuries old, it was originally textiles made for every day living with scraps of left-over fabrics artfully put together. They often resemble works of modern artists such as Mondrian and Klee. Today, the … [Read More]
Efficacious Underworld: The Evolution of Ten Kings Paintings in Medieval China and Korea
From the publisher’s website: The Ten Kings hanging scrolls at Tokyo’s Seikadō Bunko Art Museum are among the most resplendent renderings of the Buddhist purgatory extant, but their origin and significance have yet to be fully explored. Cheeyun Kwon unfurls this exquisite set of scrolls within the existing Ten Kings painting tradition while investigating textual, … [Read More]
Flowering Plums and Curio Cabinets: The Culture of Objects in Late Chosŏn Korean Art
From the publisher’s website: The social and economic rise of the chungin class (“middle people” who ranked between the yangban aristocracy and commoners) during the late Chosŏn period (1700–1910) ushered in a world of materialism and commodification of painting and other art objects. Generally overlooked in art history, the chungin contributed to a flourishing art … [Read More]
A New Middle Kingdom: Painting and Cultural Politics in Late Chosŏn Korea (1700–1850)
Historians have claimed that when social stability returned to Korea after devastating invasions by the Japanese and Manchus around the turn of the seventeenth century, the late Chosŏn dynasty was a period of unprecedented economic and cultural renaissance, in which prosperity manifested itself in new programs and styles of visual art. A New Middle Kingdom questions this … [Read More]
The Paintings of Korean Shaman Gods: History, Relevance and Role as Religious Icons
From the publisher’s website: This is the first comprehensive, fully illustrated study of Korean shaman gods to be published in English; it includes 130 full-colour plates of shaman gods, many dating back to the eighteenth century. In addition to the plate section, the volume comprises three texts: An illustrated introductory chapter by Christina Han on … [Read More]
Arts of Korea: Histories, Challenges, and Perspectives
From the publisher’s website: A monumental addition to the understudied field of Korean art, this brilliantly illustrated volume assembles the perspectives of art historians, critics, curators, and museum directors from major universities and museums around the world to trace the varied and dynamic experiences of Korean art acquisitions over the past century. The first part … [Read More]
Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art
From the publisher’s website: A dazzling exploration of the pictorial traditions inspired by Korea’s legendary Diamond Mountains The Diamond Mountains, known in Korea as Mount Geumgang, are perhaps the most famous and emotionally resonant site on the Korean Peninsula, a breathtaking range of rocky peaks, waterfalls, lagoons, and manmade pavilions. For centuries the range has … [Read More]
A Unique Banchado: The Documentary Painting, with Commentary, of King Jeongjo’s Royal Procession to Hwaseong in 1795
From the publisher’s website: Fully illustrated in colour, here is the first introduction in English to one of Korea’s outstanding cultural assets – the banchado (‘painting of the order of guests at a royal event’) relating to all those taking part (1800 people) in the eight-day royal procession to Hwaseong ( Gyeonggi Province ) organized by King Jeongjo in 1795 in order to visit the tomb of … [Read More]
Chaekgeori: The Power and Pleasure of Possessions in Korean Painted Screens
From the publisher’s website: Chaekgeori explores the genre of Korean still-life painting known as chaekgeori (loosely translated as “books and things”). Encouraged and popularized by King Jeongjo (1752–1800, r. 1776–1800) as a political tool to promote societal conservatism against an influx of ideas from abroad, chaekgeori was one of the most enduring and prolific art forms … [Read More]
The Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China
An inkstone, a piece of polished stone no bigger than an outstretched hand, is an instrument for grinding ink, an object of art, a token of exchange between friends or sovereign states, and a surface on which texts and images are carved. As such, the inkstone has been entangled with elite masculinity and the values … [Read More]
Salpuri-Chum, A Korean Dance for Expelling Evil Spirits: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of its Artistic Characteristics
From the publisher’s website: This book is a study of Salpuri-Chum, a traditional Korean dance for expelling evil spirits. The authors explore the origins and practice of Salpuri-Chum. The ancient Korean people viewed their misfortunes as coming from evil spirits; therefore, they wanted to expel the evil spirits to recover their happiness. The music for … [Read More]