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ARTS OF KOREA Dates: June 9, 1998
- January 24, 1999 |
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The inaugural exhibition in the new permanent Arts of Korea Gallery at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, opening June 9, will feature the finest examples of Korean art in all major media, including 22 national treasures, many of which have never before been displayed in the West. Drawn from the extraordinary collection of The National Museum of Korea in Seoul as well as from important private collections in Korea, Japan, and the United States, and including works from the Metropolitan’s collection, it is the first comprehensive display of Korean masterpieces to be seen in the United States in nearly 20 years. Bringing together 100 works dating from the Neolithic period through the 19th century, this exhibition examines four major areas of traditional Korean art -- ceramics, metalwork and decorative arts, Buddhist sculpture, and painting. Together with the catalogue and educational programs, the exhibition highlights the distinguished cultural and artistic legacy of Korea and the historical context in which the objects were created. The 512-page catalogue -- which introduces significant developments in the history of Korean art and presents important new findings in Korean art studies to the public and to scholars -- is one of the few volumes on Korean art to be published in the English language. The exhibition and its accompanying publication are made possible in part by the Samsung Foundation of Culture. Support has also been provided by LG. An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The establishment of and program for the Arts of Korea Gallery have been made possible by The Korea Foundation and The Kun-Hee Lee Fund for Korean Art. Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, stated: "We are exceptionally proud to open our permanent gallery for the arts of Korea with this remarkable special exhibition -- combining highly distinguished works from The National Museum of Korea with stellar loans from private collections in Korea, Japan, and the United States. The objects, a number of which are traveling to the United States for the first time, will undoubtedly bring to our viewing public an awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of the Korean people and its contribution to East Asian artistic traditions." Chung Yang-mo, Director General of The National Museum of Korea, noted: " The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a treasure house of world cultures, exemplifies the American people’s appreciation of artistic excellence and their belief that international mutual understanding is furthered by cultural interchange. The establishment of a permanent Arts of Korea Gallery and Korean art program at the Metropolitan, which has long been a fond wish of the Korean people and of many Americans as well, is a milestone in the introduction of the rich cultural and artistic legacy of Korea to the Western public." Two earlier exhibitions surveying the history of Korean art and drawing upon public and private collections in Korea were presented in 1957 and 1979-81 in a number of venues in the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum. Since that time, significant advances in art-historical scholarship in Korea and new archaeological findings throughout the peninsula have led to a more thorough and critical assessment of Korean art as a distinctive tradition, particularly in its relationship to the art and culture of China and Japan. The present exhibition incorporates recent scholarship in the analysis of stylistic and technical developments in the various media and the examination of the social and cultural context in which the works of art were produced. The Korean ceramic tradition has long been admired in China and Japan, and more recently recognized in the West. Forty ceramics on view -- ranging from the earthenware of the Neolithic period to the celebrated celadons of the Koryô dynasty (918-1392) and the white porcelains and punch’ông ("powder-green") ware of the Chosôn dynasty (1392-1910) -- demonstrate the skill and ingenuity of the Korean potter. Among these objects are an imposing bird-shaped vessel of the late 2nd to 3rd century, which represents one of the earliest known Korean ceramic sculptural forms; a mid-12th-century celadon bottle (kundika) with an incised and carved design of waterbirds and willows (Treasure no. 344); a 12th-century celadon maebyông (prunus vase), embellished with an underglaze iron-brown and inlaid design of ginseng leaves (Treasure no. 340); a 15th-century punch’ông bottle with an incised design of fish; a striking 17th-century porcelain jar (National Treasure no. 166) that has an underglaze iron-brown design of bamboo and plum; and a large porcelain jar produced in the second half of the 18th century that is decorated with a lively design of a tiger, magpies, and haet’ae (mythical lion-dog) painted under the glaze in cobalt blue and copper red. Spectacular gold ornaments -- such as an elaborate crown and delicate earrings produced from the late 4th to the 6th century, in the Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C.E.-668 C.E.) -- reflect the sumptuous lifestyle and authority of royal families of Korea’s first centralized states. The exhibition also includes a wide variety of bronze objects that were created using a technology imported from northern China around the 10th century B.C.E. Buddhism, introduced from China in the 4th century, flourished throughout the peninsula in the Unified Silla (668-935) and Koryô periods, when Korean artists produced some of the world’s most sophisticated and technically accomplished Buddhist works. The importance of Buddhism in daily life and its pervasive influence as a creative and spiritual force in early Korean society are seen, for example, in silver-inlaid bronze incense burners and vessels, as well as bronze bells and gongs made for use in temples. Among the monuments of Buddhist art is a large gilt-bronze image of the bodhisattva Maitreya, from the late 6th century, whose contemplative expression epitomizes the powerful presence of Korean Buddhist sculpture. Portable shrines and reliquaries exquisitely crafted in gilt bronze are evidence of the increasingly personal expression of Buddhist devotion in the Koryô dynasty. Although suppressed by the state, Buddhism continued to find expression in the arts of the Chosôn period. Elegant yet restrained lacquerware, furniture, and other
scholars’ accessories became popular in the 14th century with the rise of the
yangban, the members of the "two orders" of civil and military officials who
dominated the political, economic, and cultural life of the Chosôn dynasty. In addition to court-sponsored secular painting, works attributable to individual artists became more numerous in the Chosôn period. Among them were the preeminent court painter An Kyôn (active ca. 1440-70) and the literati artist Chông Sôn (1676-1759), who saw themselves as heirs to a long tradition of scholar-artists in China. While deeply indebted to the themes, techniques, and critical tradition of Chinese painting, Korean artists sought to create individual stylistic vocabularies, especially in landscape painting. This new interest culminated in the so-called true-view landscape movement of the 18th century, which advocated the depiction of actual Korean scenery as an alternative to the classical themes of Chinese landscape painting. The 18th century also saw the emergence of a unique tradition of genre painting, whose acknowledged master practitioners, Kim Hong-do (1745-1806) and Sin Yun-bok (ca. 1758-after 1813), portrayed the daily life of all classes of Korean society -- from carpenters and iron forgers to aristocrats and scholars -- in all its variety and liveliness. An album painting of a dancer performing to the accompaniment of a small troupe of musicians, Dancer and Musicians, demonstrates Kim’s remarkable talent in conveying sensitive observations of narrative detail. A series of educational programs has been planned in conjunction with the exhibition. Education programs and media support related to the opening of the Arts of Korea Gallery have been made possible by The Korea Foundation. The inaugural exhibition has been organized by Wen C. Fong, Consultative Chairman, Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in cooperation with Chung Yang-mo, Director General, The National Museum of Korea, Seoul, and in consultation with an advisory committee of leading senior Korean art scholars: Professors Ahn Hwi-joon, Seoul National University; Yi Sông-mi, The Academy of Korean Studies, Sôngnam; Kim Lena, Hongik University, Seoul; Kim Hongnam, Ewha Womans University, Seoul; and Pak Youngsook, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Judith G. Smith, Special Assistant to the Consultative Chairman, Department of Asian Art, with the assistance of Hongkyung Anna Suh, Curatorial Assistant, coordinated the organization of the exhibition and the production of the catalogue. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated
catalogue, Arts of Korea, with essays by Chung Yang-mo, Ahn Hwi-joon, Yi Sông-mi, Kim
Lena, Kim Hongnam,
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