Exhibitions/ Poetry in Clay

Poetry in Clay: Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art

April 7–August 14, 2011

Exhibition Overview

This exhibition focusing on buncheong ware, the bold and dynamic ceramic art that flourished in Korea during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, features approximately sixty works from the renowned collection of Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea. Included in the exhibition are select works by modern/contemporary potters, highlighting how this tradition, which had disappeared in Korea for four hundred years, has been revived and transformed by today's artists. In addition, the exhibition features a handful of Edo-period Japanese ceramics from the Museum's permanent collection, illustrating Japanese revivals of the buncheong idiom.


The exhibition is made possible by the Korea Foundation.

Additional support is provided by Willis.

It was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul.

The catalogue is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation.





Drum-Shaped Bottle with Peony Decoration. Korean, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910); late 15th–early 16th century. Buncheong with iron-painted design; H. 8 5/8 in. (21.7 cm), L. 12 3/8 in. (31.2 cm). Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Treasure no. 1387