POSCO to Host Exhibition of Joseon Dynasty Color Paintings Including 'Ilwol Obongdo'

'美物玩賞 Mimulwansang: Joseon, Decorated with Colors'
September 6-16 at Daechi-dong POSCO Center B1

The representative work of the 'Mimulwansang' exhibition, Ilwol Obongdo (Photo by POSCO Art Museum)

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO presents an opportunity to newly experience the diverse world of Joseon Dynasty color paintings, ranging from royal court paintings to folk paintings.

POSCO announced on the 3rd that it will hold the exhibition "美物玩賞 Mimulwansang: Joseon, Decorating with Color" at the POSCO Museum located on the B1 floor of the POSCO Center in Daechi-dong.

The exhibition will run from September 6 to October 16, and admission is free. Visitors can attend without a separate reservation process. The visiting hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and the museum is closed on public holidays and substitute holidays. Due to social distancing measures, temperature checks and visitor registration will be conducted upon entry, and the exhibition will operate in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.

This special exhibition at the POSCO Museum was prepared reflecting the growing popularity of folk paintings and color paintings, which had been previously overlooked. The royal court paintings and folk paintings from the late Joseon period displayed in the exhibition are a kind of talisman and symbolic painting containing the wishes of people at that time. A total of 27 paintings unfold the humor and freedom of life with brilliant colors and bold compositions.

In particular, masterpieces rarely seen recently, such as the representative work of this special exhibition, "Ilwol Obongdo (日月五峯圖)," the "Twelve Zodiac Strange Rock and Peony Screen (十二支 怪石牧丹圖)" 12-panel folding screen, the "Black Paper Flowers, Plants, and Feathers Screen (黑紙花草翎毛)" 8-panel folding screen, and the "Ten Longevity Symbols Painting (十長生圖)" are introduced all in one place.

"Ilwol Obongdo" is significant as it is the first time the production date of Ilwol Obongdo has been identified. On the back of the sixth panel, the last panel of the six-panel folding screen, at the lower right corner, there is an inscription "Ham-pung 7th year re-painted (咸?七年重寫)," meaning "repainted in 1857," which reveals the production date. "Repainted" does not mean newly painted but rather "restored," so this folding screen was likely produced in the early or first half of the 19th century before 1857.

The "Twelve Zodiac Strange Rock and Peony Screen" 12-panel folding screen is the largest existing folding screen, with a total width of 9.6 meters, featuring peonies and strange rocks shaped like the twelve zodiac animals. It expresses auspiciousness by combining the peony's wealth and prosperity with the strange rock's longevity, conveying a grand presence.

The "Black Paper Flowers, Plants, and Feathers Screen" 8-panel folding screen depicts the brilliance of a garden imbued with darkness, with various flowers and birds symbolizing the four seasons resting on strange rocks covered with blue-green moss on a dark-colored background. It conveys a blessing message wishing eternal happiness like the birds in the painting on a fragrant night.

Additionally, the "Chochungdo (草蟲圖)" presumed to be a 17th-century work shows butterflies flying among late summer herbaceous plants such as dandelions, red smartweed (Hongryeo), morning glories climbing up, dayflowers, ripe melons, and wild chrysanthemums, with a praying mantis and a lizard crawling below. The delicate outlines drawn on a silk background are very precise, the coloring is delicate, and the color balance is bright.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.