Exhibit Deepens Autumnal Tints in Traditional Arts
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Autumn is in full swing. People are enjoying fresh and cool air outside and looking for outdoor activities. How about feeling the deepening autumn mood by exploring our ancestors' footsteps?
The National Museum of Korea will hold a special exhibition titled ``Autumn in Art'' from Thursday until Nov. 16.
The exhibition is designed to give visitors the chance to enjoy the fall atmosphere through our ancestors' life in arts. The exhibit is different from previous academic exhibitions, instead coming closer to the audience with a familiar theme.
About 140 pieces from landscape and folk paintings to white porcelain associated with a full moon are on display in the exhibit.
The exhibition hall has been turned into an autumnal field of colorful leaves and golden tints with special interior designs to match the season.
Visitors can experience the chirping of crickets and crispy fallen leaves through audio devices and enjoy folk stories through 3D animations.
The exhibit is divided into four themes following the introduction ``Talking About Autumn'' ― ``Painting Autumn,'' ``Feeling Autumn,'' ``Singing Autumn,'' and ``Harvesting Autumn.''
The first section, ``Painting Autumn'' presents landscape paintings, which show how our ancestors painted their ideas about autumn.
The paintings include ``A View of Geumgang,'' a landscape of Mt. Geumgang in North Korea by Jeong Seon; ``Late Autumn'' by prominent painter Ahn Gyeon; ``Appreciating Chrysanthemum'' by Kim Hong-do; and others by Kim Du-ryang, Kim Deok-ha and Jeong Su-young.
In the second section, ``Feeling Autumn,'' paintings and porcelain depicting chrysanthemum, wild geese and bugs will be on display. The paintings include the works by King Jeongjo, Shin Myeong-yeon, Shim Sa-jeong and Kim Deuk-sin.
The third section, ``Singing Autumn,'' presents poems, sijo (Korean verse), and old folk poems that express the richness and solitude of autumn's atmosphere.
``Harvesting Autumn'' shows fall customs through folk paintings including Kim Hong-do's `` Threshing Rice,'' which portrays farmers on the harvest. Also, the historic documents show major customs during Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving Day.
The exhibition will open today and run until Nov. 16.