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Sumitap Rock

late 18th–early 19th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
One of the most significant Joseon-period court painters and today best known for his genre paintings featuring the working class, Kim Hongdo forms a counterpart to Jeong Seon in shaping the eighteenth-century pictorial tradition around the Diamond Mountains. Kim traveled to the famed region in 1788 on the order of King Jeongjo; the product of that trip does not survive, however. Indeed, a relatively small number of his illustrations of Mount Geumgang remain today. The artist’s signature and seal on this work may have been added later. The elegant style of the painting strongly reflects Kim’s. Depicting the oddly shaped Sumitap Rock (tap means “pagoda”), this piece demonstrates how effectively the topography and ambience of a scenery can be conveyed even in a relatively modest scale. The deliberate and delicate brushwork has a potent impact.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 전 단원 김홍도 수미탑 조선
  • 傳 檀園 金弘道 須彌塔 朝鮮
  • Title: Sumitap Rock
  • Artist: Attributed to Kim Hongdo (artist name: Danwon) (Korean, 1745–after 1806)
  • Period: Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
  • Date: late 18th–early 19th century
  • Culture: Korea
  • Medium: Ink and light colors on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 15 1/8 × 11 1/4 in. (38.4 × 28.6 cm)
    Framed: 29 × 20 11/16 in. (73.7 × 52.6 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Lent by Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art