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The intellectual ferment in Korea during the eighteenth century included a renewed emphasis on the continuation and establishment of native traditions of philosophy, history, and art. An important result of this emphasis was the flourishing of a unique tradition of genre painting, as exemplified by Kim Hong-do (1745–1806). Renowned for his versatility as well as his prodigious talent — he excelled in landscapes, portraits, Buddhist and Daoist themes, and paintings of plants and animals — Kim depicted the daily life of all classes of Choson society, leaving an abundance of pictorial evidence of this period of Korean history.

This album leaf, among the most famous of Kim’s genre paintings, portrays a facet of village life with an unerring candor and a sense of humor. Such lively animated compositions demonstrate Kim’s unique talent for sensitive observations of individual personalities and narrative detail.