Visual Arts of Korea

Traditional Arts of Korea

Korea is home to a long artistic tradition, influenced by but independent from the styles of China. Korean artists produced notable works in pottery, painting, sculpture, and calligraphy. In the Modern era, elaborate masked plays and dramas have evolved into a booming television industry.

Most art of historic Korea can be divided by class and religion. Folk styles, seen in Buddhist and minwha art, featured bright colors, geometric patterns, animals, and landscapes. They contrast with the understated pieces of Confucian Joseon. Joseon scholars preferred minimal color in their pottery and paintings. They focused instead on clean lines and thoughtful or natural subjects.[1]

Korean Sculpture and Architecture

Traditional Korean sculpture reached its height in the Buddhist Goryeo dynasty. The oldest known statue of Buddha in Korea dates to 539 CE, shortly after the arrival of Buddhism itself. Korean artists combined the foreign styles of Buddhism with their own native tradition. They carved large statues from stone and cast smaller statues in gilded bronze.[2]

Buddhism was discouraged in the Joseon dynasty.Lately, however, it has seen a revival in modern South Korea. The most visible proof of this is the Tongil Daebul, or the Great Unification Buddha. The 108-ton bronze statue sits about 48 feet tall at Sinheungsa Temple. Built in 1992, it expresses Koreans' desire for unity between North and South.[3]

Ornamental Metalworking in Korea

The Joseon and Goryeo dynasties suffered from regular metal shortages. As a result, Korea's most elaborate metalworking occurred during the Three Kingdoms Period. The Silla and Goguryeo dynasties in particular specialized in ornate gold-working. Their works show a taste for fine detail, including dangling pendants and precious stones.[4]

Korean Ceramics

Pottery is one of the oldest and most developed artforms of Korea. Ceramic artists from the Goryeo specialized in jade-green celadon glazes. While other nations like China produced celadon, Goryeo kilns were famed for their semi-transparent finish. This allowed finer detail and deeper color in the finished ceramic. The artform, like many others, declined with the Goryeo dynasty.[5]

Early Joseon kilns focused on porcelain and buncheong. Buncheong pottery was initially reserved for the yangban. It reflected Confucian ideals of elegance and natural harmony. Over time, porcelain became more widely available. This pushed buncheong to the lower classes as the 16th-century yangban changed fashions. Porcelain, especially cheaper Chinese porcelain, was also popular among peasants.[6][7]

Korean Painting and Illustrations

The first known paintings of Korea can be found within the tombs of its early rulers. In old Goguryeo, they reveal scenes from a society almost lost to time. The tombs depict women in short coats with rouged cheeks chatting with noblemen. Hunters pursue tigers from horseback, while dancers and wrestlers entertain the masses. These first paintings are more similar to those of Manchuria and Central Asia than of China.[8]

Over the following centuries, Korean painting drew from both Chinese and folk influences. In the Joseon dynasty, it became a popular pastime for amateurs and professionals alike. Minhwa paintings show colorful, idyllic scenes. Scholars painted screens to look like bookshelves or natural landscapes. Masters like Chong Son were especially fond of mountains. Later, painters also explored daily life in the yangban courts.[1]

Modern Arts in South Korea

Contemporary Korean artists are represented across all media. Some work to preserve the customs of the past, while others push the cutting edge of creative expression at venues across the globe. Perhaps the most visible art of modern Korea is its booming television industry. Korean dramas, along with K-pop music, have found global success as part of the larger Korean Wave. The trend is sometimes referred to as Hallyu, a play on America's Hollywood.[8]

Bibliography

1. Michael J. Seth, A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011), 219-220.

2. Ahn Kye-hyon, "Introduction of Buddhism to Korea" in Introduction of Buddhism to Korea: New Cultural Patterns, ed. Lewis R. Lancaster and Chai-Shin Yu (Berkeley , CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1989), 1-28.

3. "Sinheungsa Temple," Korea Bridge, Korea Bridge, accessed June 01, 2017.

4. Soyoung Lee and Jeon Seung-chang, Korean Buncheong Ceramics from Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2011), 8-20.

5. Robert Koehler, Korean Ceramics: The Beauty of Natural Forms (Seoul: Seoul Selection, 2012).

6. Sunhwa Rha, Pottery: Korean Traditional Handicrafts, trans. Yoon-jung Cho (Seoul: Ewha Womans University Press, 2006), 13-39.

7. Seth, 36-41.

8. Sangjoon Lee and Markus Nornes, Hallyu 2.0: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social Media (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2015).

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Traditions of the Ancestors

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