Album of Sea and Mountains (Haesan-docheop)

A court painter who came from a family of distinguished painters, Kim Hajong traveled to the Diamond Mountains in 1815 alongside Yi Gwangmun (1778–1838), the scholar and civil official who commissioned him. Twenty-one leaves of the album cycle through major sites from Inner, Outer, and Sea Geumgang, capturing some of the area’s most spectacular or odd natural formations. In the colophon, Yi declares Mount Geumgang to be the “most beautiful and fantastical of mountains” in Korea.

Kim’s style reflects the traditions inherited from the master painter Kim Hongdo, whose works of the Diamond Mountains provide a stylistic counterpoint to those of Jeong Seon. In addition, Kim Hajong also adopted the Western techniques of shading and conveying three-dimensionality that were au courant in nineteenth-century Korea.

Among the most noteworthy scenes is Myeonggyeongdae Rock (center), which confronts the viewer with the towering, awe-inspiring crag, its vertical and diagonal forms competing for attention. Two figures—perhaps a reference to the painter and his patron—sit with picnic accoutrements. Bold outlines and washes create shadows and give three-dimensionality to the rocks.

The scenes on either side depict Jangan Temple (right) and Dabotap Rock.

The vignettes displayed here represent three of the most impressive and unusual sceneries in the Outer and Sea Geumgang regions of the Diamond Mountains: Flying Phoenix Falls, Nine-Dragon Falls, and Chongseok (right to left). The latter highlights the fantastical, hypnotic pillar formations rising out of the water. Cascading waterfalls are among the most splendid sights to greet the travelers on their journey through the mountains, as exemplified by the two with fanciful names shown here.