Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
From 'minhwa' to painted fans, echoes of Joseon art resound in museums
An eight-panel folding screen portraying 100 fans, top, and an eight-panel folding screen depicting eight views of the former province of Gwandong, both of which were produced in the 20th century / Courtesy of Amorepacific Museum of Art
By Park Han-sol
In recent seasons, major museums across Korea have turned their gaze to the art of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty.
But these exhibitions are far from mere tributes to the past. Rather, they reawaken it, revealing how centuries-old expressions can still stir something present. Some have unearthed long-overlooked genres, while others have expanded the frame of certain traditions, offering fuller, more inclusive narratives in place of narrow selections of prized masterpieces. Both pulse with an equally contemporary rhythm.
Among the notable are the Leeum Museum of Art’s “Joseon White Porcelain: Paragon of Virtue,” the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art’s “Worlds Beyond Extraordinary: Minhwa and K-Pop Art” and the newly opened “Gyeomjae Jeong Seon” at the Hoam Museum of Art.
To this growing constellation, we can now add two more Seoul exhibits: one unveiling a panoramic survey of “minhwa” (folk art), the other illuminating the underrecognized world of literati fan painting.
Installation view of the "Beyond Joseon Minhwa" exhibition at the Amorepacific Museum of Art / Courtesy of Amorepacific Museum of Art
Sweeping view of Joseon minhwa
As its name suggests, minhwa — Korean folk paintings that flourished during the later centuries of the Joseon Dynasty — breaks away from the refined traditions of court art.
Rather than adhering to strict stylistic conventions, the genre stands out for its raw charm and unrestrained spirit. Some works abandon the rules of perspective entirely, while others play boldly with color and fluid brushstrokes, and many brim with whimsical, almost mischievous, details.
With its distinctive subject matter, unconventional compositions and wildly varying degrees of technical refinement, minhwa has emerged as a compelling art form in its own right.
Though long neglected by mainstream art circles and the commercial market, it has experienced a resurgence in recent years, both for its artistic vitality and cultural resonance.
A 20th-century eight-panel folding screen that is a characteristic example of "munjado" (pictorial ideographs) from Jeju Island, where Chinese characters were reimagined as graphic building blocks regardless of their meaning / Courtesy of Amorepacific Museum of Art
"Tiger and Magpies" from the 19th century, left, and "A Fish Transforming into a Dragon" from the 18th century / Courtesy of Amorepacific Museum of Art
“Beyond Joseon Minhwa” at the Amorepacific Museum of Art in central Seoul captures this renewed appreciation, zooming in on the genre’s diverse themes, techniques and color palettes.
Featuring more than 100 works drawn from 20 institutional and private collections, this blockbuster show reveals how minhwa’s expressive individuality was woven into the everyday lives of Koreans.
The sheer range of leitmotifs on display is a visual feast — Chinese characters reimagined as graphic building blocks, free-spirited representation of Korea’s mountainous landscapes, the iconic pairing of tiger and magpie, fish transforming into dragons, Daoist immortals riding shrimp, dynamic hunting scenes, chapters from classical Korean literature and even close-up views of leopard pelt patterns, a surprising echo of modern-day leopard print.
A 10-panel folding screen of "chaekgado" by 19th-century painter Yi Taek-gyun / Courtesy of Amorepacific Museum of Art
Among the unmissable highlights is a 10-panel folding screen of “chaekgado,” a still-life painting of books and scholars’ accoutrements, by 19th-century artist Yi Taek-gyun. This remarkable piece was the only Korean antique once owned by famed interior designer Mica Ertegun. The Amorepacific Museum of Art acquired it at a 2024 Christie’s New York auction for $642,600 (952 million won), when Ertegun’s collection went under the hammer.
The inner surfaces of the painted bookshelves are rendered in a vivid blue, a signature trait of Yi’s style. While Yi himself was a court painter, the exhibition offers a fascinating glimpse into how this genre, initially popularized within royal circles, gradually spread to private homes and evolved along the way.
Displayed alongside Yi’s “chaekgado” are a number of anonymous folk renditions that reflect this shift — where folding screens were resized to suit the lower ceilings of modest homes, and objects once symbolizing Chinese luxury were replaced by familiar items rooted in everyday Korean life or Western imports in the late 19th century, as waves of modernization swept through Joseon.
The show concludes with a charming collection of ceramics and everyday craftworks, all dressed in whimsical minhwa-inspired designs — from jars and bowls to tray tables, jewelry boxes, spoon pouches and even rice cake molds.
“Beyond Joseon Minhwa” runs through June 29.
At Kansong Art Museum, "The Fan: My Companion Sharing the Moonlit Breeze" zooms in on the underrecognized world of literati fan painting produced from the late Joseon Dynasty to the 20th century. Newsis
Folding fan, companion of Joseon literati
For Korean literati, the folding fan was more than a tool to fend off the sweltering summer heat.
It was a handheld canvas — bearing idyllic “sansuhwa” (landscapes of mountains and waterways), delicate flower-and-bird brushworks, expressive calligraphy and images of “sagunja,” or the Four Gracious Plants that embodied noble Confucian virtues.
“There was a seasonal custom of exchanging fans in summer, inscribed with poems or paintings,” Chun In-keon, director of the Kansong Art Museum, the oldest private institution in Korea, said during a press preview on Monday. “It was a way of sharing intimate correspondence with cherished friends — like letters carried on the wind.”
It is at Chun’s museum that this under-acknowledged genre has stepped into full view.
In fact, “The Fan: My Companion Sharing the Moonlit Breeze” comes 48 years after Kansong’s 1977 exhibition, the last time fan art took center stage.
Kim Jeong-hui's "Jichi and Orchid Combining Fragrances" / Newsis
Kim Hong-do's "Far Ranging Excursion on Horseback" / Yonhap
A total of 55 pieces from the museum’s historic collection have been brought together, 23 of which are unveiled to the public for the very first time.
On display on the second floor are fan paintings from the late Joseon period, some of which reflect cultural exchanges with intellectuals from the contemporaneous Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Many of the works are rendered on paper embellished with fragments of gold, silver, brass or copper, creating a subtle shimmer that complements the portrayed scenes.
Among the featured creatives are household names in Korean art history: Kim Jeong-hui, the master calligrapher and epigrapher renowned for inventing the iconic “Chusa” font, and Kim Hong-do, the beloved artist known for his vivid depictions of everyday life in “pungsokhwa,” or genre painting.
Lady Menghua's "Poem of the Hundred Beauties" (1893) / Courtesy of Kansong Art Museum
What’s especially illuminating is that these painted fans were not exclusive to male literati. Educated, upper-class women also engaged in this art form to share and cultivate their creative sensibilities, particularly through poetry and classical verse.
A standout example comes from China: the gold-hued “Poem of the Hundred Beauties” by Qing Dynasty’s Lady Menghua, inscribed with a lyrical series inspired by the lives of 100 Chinese women.
“The Fan: My Companion Sharing the Moonlit Breeze” runs until May 25.