Korean Folk Paintings: The Revolt of the Anonymous

- EuiJung McGillis (Art Historian, Independent Curator) 

In this lecture, we are going to look at the themes, iconography, and historical context of Korean folk paintings.  During the late Chosun period (1700s-1910), these paintings were highly celebrated by all classes of the society. Mostly created anonymously, Korean folk paintings demonstrate how the aesthetics of the ruling class was transformed and reimagined by the commoners in a hierarchical society. These anonymous painters and their uninhibited creativity effectively served the artistic cravings of the commoners, whimsically manipulating the traditional ink painting rules and themes with simplicity, satire, and humor. The artistic freedom from the rules and conventions allowed these anonymous painters to explore the vernacular visual language, which represents the highly localized artistic sensibilities of pre-modern Korea.

… Minhwa, painting of the common people, emulates the very spirit of vernacular practicality. It features daily household objects, plants, animals, and figures from Korean folk mythology and legends.  The composition of these elements for each painting is subject to the needs of the patron.  Various types of Minhwa were produced not only for ceremonial or home decoration purposes, but also for good luck or protection from evil spirits.

The use of vibrant colors, flattened composition, highly stylized details, and culturally embedded symbols in Minhwa constructed various idiosyncratic visual narratives with a touch of humor and satire.  Produced anonymously by itinerant or unknown artists, Minhwa distinctly embodies the aesthetic freedom and unconventional formalism of the popular culture in the late Chosun period, instead of honoring the tenets of the literati ink painting traditions.  Minhwa also conveys utopian aspirations of the common people, which manifest their positive outlook on life, as a way of coping with hardships in reality. Its popular symbols include tiger, magpie, crane, peonies, bamboo trees, storage boxes, dressers, bookshelves, and so on.  Today, the Minhwa tradition continues to exist as a genre of Korean traditional paintings….  

About the Lecturer 

EuiJung McGillis is pursuing a PhD in Cultural Mediations with a concentration on contemporary Asian art at Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture (ICSLAC), Carleton University.  Her main research interests include Korean art history, Asian art history, Korean Buddhist art, contemporary Korean art, and transnational Korean artists and their representations in world art history.