Mount Geumgang

Jo Seokjin, the last court painter of the Joseon dynasty, continued his successful career into the early twentieth century under Japanese colonial rule. He is believed to have painted this ten-panel screen of the Diamond Mountains following his travel there in 1918. The artist’s use of saturated colors and of shading may reflect his adaptation of Western-style painting techniques and of Qing-period Chinese painting styles, which he learned while spending a year in China in the 1880s.

Opting for an elongated vertical format, Jo arranged each scene with clear divisions of foreground and background, and in many instances placed the focal point or main element off center. The majesty of the scenery is emphasized through densely populated compositions that accentuate the tall mountains and trees. The order of the ten featured sites is not dictated by the traditional route of travel around the mountains and seems to reflect the artist’s idiosyncratic choice.

From right to left: Panel 1: Entrance to Manpok Valley (萬瀑洞口); Panel 2: Jeokbyeok River (赤壁江); Panel 3: Seongmun Falls (石門瀑); Panel 4: Jangan Temple (長安寺); Panel 5: Jinju Pond (眞珠潭); Panel 6: Twelve Falls (十二瀑); Panel 7: Manmulsang Rocks (萬物相); Panel 8: Nine-Dragon Falls (九龍淵大瀑); Panel 9: Pyohun Temple (表訓寺); Panel 10: Singye Temple (神溪寺)