Wan Koo and Young Jah Huh Korean Art Wing

LEE Jungjin,이정진 (born 1961)

Korean; Republican period, 2003

Thing 03-01

Black and white photographic print; ink on paper

Murray Warner Acquisition Fund Purchase; 2006:12.1

Contemporary photographer Lee Jungjin carefully controls the light, balance, and negative space of the photos in her Things series. Presenting each object with great sensitivity, she forces the viewer to contemplate the subtle beauty of these mundane, everyday objects and experience them as something beyond the sum of their utilitarian parts. Her process recalls the aesthetic tradition of the yangban literati, whose landscape paintings not only communicated their interior feelings, but were also intended to elicit an emotional experience from the viewer. By highlighting the modest onggi a ceramic jar traditionally used by women to fer ment kimchi, soy sauce, and bean paste Thing 03-01 acknowledges the integral role these jars have played in the lives of countless women, and affords the humble onggi the same grace and dignity given to the emotive landscapes of the yangban.

JUNG Yonghee, 用 , 정용희 (aka Chugang 秋岡 , 추강; 1914-circa 1950)

Korean; Colonial period? (1910-1945)

Landscape (Sansudo)

Framed painting; ink and color on paper

Gift of John and Kyungsook Cho Gregor; 2017:49.5

After studying under the renowned LEE Sang -beom (1897-1972, see the next gallery), Jung Yonghee became a notable landscape painter in her own right. By combining the spatial and calligraphic techniques typical of literati a , , b L c , J developed her own distinct style which won her multiple prizes at the Joseon Art Exhibition as well as a te ac a S W

U . T a ca , , J ca a c a d to have perished during an attempted abduction by the North Korean Army during the Korean War (1950-1953).

NA Suyeon 나수연 (Korean, born 1980)

Watching TV Show, 2012

Watercolor, gouache on paper

Farwest Steel Korean Art Endowment Fund Purchase; 2018:4.2

Set before a vivid backdrop of mountains, rivers, plants, and animals, a naked woman lays playfully atop a television as pieces of the puzzle -like landscape reveal a dull, grey, street scene beneath. Ins pired the folk art of a K a, Na S Watching TV Show draws from auspicious b ( sipjangsaeng) imagery featuring the sun, rocks, water, clouds, pines, bamboo, deer, turtles, cranes, and lingzhi mushrooms.

Symbolizing long life, sipjangsaeng screens were popular in Joseon -period (1392-1910) K a, JSMA c Ten Symbols of Longevity Screen (see image below) being an especially notable example. Having lived abroad for years, Na is known for combi ning elements of Asian mythology with global folk art to create mesmerizing, surreal works that explore her fluid identities as an immigrant and as a woman.

Detail from the Ten Symbols of Longevity Screen (十 生圖

, 79 203 inches. Murray Warner Collection, MWK68:3

Korean; Joseon period, 1879-80. Ten-

PARK So Eun 박소은 (born 1976)

Korean; Republican period, 2017

W man S i i 1

Minhwa (folk) painting; ink and color on hanji (Korean paper)

Farwest Steel Korean Art Endowment Fund Purchase; 2018:18.1

Still- a b a d , chaekgeori, were especially popular among the yangban (Korean literati) class of the Joseon period (1392 -1910). Featuring an array of attractive cultural objects, such paintings allowed individuals to extol their own values and express their identities through the careful selection of rarified objects. While human forms are absent in almost all traditional chaekgeori, Pa S E W man S i i 1 uses the d a d d a a d d yangban of old. Leaning across a small desk and surrounded by books, knickknacks, and butterflies (exquisite insects associated with femininity), a woman is caught in a moment of reverie. In this intimate scene Park uses the traditional minhwa folk painting practice to address contemporary issues, offering a potent contrast to the hist oric masculine associations of chaekgeori with the yangban.

Elizabeth Keith (Scottish, 1887-1956)

Left: A Country Scholar , circa 1938

Right: A Daughter of the House of Min , 1938

Etching and color on papers

Murray Warner Collection; MWB53:K1 -2

British artist Elizabeth Keith traveled throughout much of Asia in the early 20th century and is well- known for her graceful and intimate paintings and prints. A great admirer of Korean art and culture, Keith produced many scenes of Korea such as these portraits of an old scholar and a well -to-do young woman. While the specific individ uals cannot be identified with c a , ba d K a , a a KIM Yun-sik (1835 -1922), a powerful aristocrat in Empress M (1851-1895) inner circle, while the woman may be the daughter of MIN Yeong -chan (1873-1948), royal commissioner to the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition.

YUN Suknam, 尹 男 , 윤석남 (born 1939)

Korean; Republican period, 2018

We Are a Matrilineal Family

Ink and color pigment on hanji (Korean paper)

Farwest Steel Korean Art Endowment Fund Purchase; 2018:35.1

Though ancestor worship plays a foundational role in the Neo -Confucian thought of the Joseon period (1392-1910), women were often omitted from family ancestor portraits and referred to in genealogical records only a a d da / / . I We Are a Matrilineal Family , prominent feminist artist Yun Suknam confronts these historical silences to recognize the tireless contributions women have made to Korean society. Standing on lotuses that trail off into the background, Yun is surrounded by her mother, sisters, daughter, and dog. Inspired by the strength of the women in her life, We Are a Matrilineal Family is an ancestor portrait dedicated to the generations of hardworking women who have been unrecognized in family histories.