Exhibition explores fluid boundaries of minhwa, Korea's playful art of revolt

A 19th-century "Tiger and Magie" painting / Courtesy of Gallery Hyundai

By Park Han-sol

• Published Jan 15, 2026 2:24 PM KST

As its name suggests, minhwa — the Korean folk paintings that flourished in the later centuries of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) — break decisively from the refined conventions of court art.

Unbound by strict stylistic codes, the genre is marked instead by a raw charm and vitality. Some works abandon the rules of perspective altogether; others revel in daring color, fluid brushwork and playful compositions. Many brim with whimsical, even mischievous, details.

With its distinctive subjects and widely varying levels of technical refinement, minhwa has come to be recognized as an art form in its own right.

Gallery Hyundai’s new exhibition, however, moves beyond a rigid separation between folk and court painting. Rather than treating them as discrete worlds, it traces how the two traditions influenced each other.

Painters, even those in royal service, did not live behind palace walls. They moved between the court and the world beyond it, fulfilling commissions both within the royal grounds and for affluent patrons elsewhere. Through such encounters, the iconography and scale associated with court painting seeped into minhwa. At the same time, the lively sensibilities and everyday life depicted in folk painting flowed back into court art and enlivened its visuals.

“Magnificence and Creativity: Variations in Korean Folk Painting” brings this dialogue into focus through 27 works, and features a large number of rare pieces being shown publicly for the first time.

Among them is a 19th-century eight-panel folding screen, “Two Dragons and a Pearl.” The painting depicts two dragons frolicking around a “yeouiju” orb or pearl, and is an important example within the genre. Dragons were traditionally seen as emblems of the emperor, while the Joseon king was often represented by the phoenix, a symbol of lower rank. Dragon imagery increased after King Gojong proclaimed the short-lived Korean Empire (1897-1910) in an attempt to assert full sovereignty.

The show’s highlights include its six distinct variations of “hojakdo” paintings featuring the iconic pairing of tigers and magpies. The motif has recently enjoyed a pop culture revival, most notably through the delightfully “derpy” tiger and sharp-witted magpie featured in Netflix’s hit animation “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Historically, the tiger was regarded as a guardian against misfortune and malevolent spirits. In these playful reimaginings, it is often stripped of its fearsome authority and rendered as a bumbling creature. With bulging eyes, a gaping mouth and a lolling tongue, the animal becomes a caricature of the aristocracy. By contrast, the clever bird stands in for the common people, unbothered in the face of power. Together, the duo form a sly but pointed jab at the ruling elite.

One curious detail runs through all six paintings: the animals’ bodies often combine tiger-like stripes with leopard-like spots. This reflects a period belief that tigers and leopards were not separate species but variations of the same creature. A striped tiger was known as “julbeom,” while a spotted leopard was called “donbeom.”

For the same reason, a 19th-century folding screen covered edge to edge with leopard-pelt patterns, each hair painted with uncanny precision, is known simply as “Tiger Skins.”

Unfolding simultaneously in another space at Gallery Hyundai is “The Way of Painting,” a survey of six contemporary artists who reinterpret the spirit and visual language of Joseon-era folk and court art. It offers a compelling glimpse into how these historical aesthetics are refracted through the lens of today.

At the hands of Kim Nam-kyoung, Kim Ji-pyeong, Bak Bang-young, Ahn Seong-min, Lee Doo-won and Jae Jung, motifs once central to minhwa and palace paintings are given distinctly modern expressions.

Recurring elements include the familiar pairing of tigers and magpies, as well as “chaekgado” still-life compositions of books and scholarly accoutrements. These scenes also incorporate objects introduced from the West in the late 19th century, as waves of modernization swept across Joseon. These appear alongside symbols of fertility and abundance such as grapes, pomegranates and watermelons, all prized for their many seeds.

The show also engages with contemporary reinterpretations of “irworobongdo,” the monumental folding screens traditionally placed behind the throne in the main halls of Joseon palaces. Depicting the sun and moon, five mountain peaks and clusters of pine trees, these images were far more than ornamental backdrops. They symbolized the king’s presence, serving as a visual embodiment of royal authority, cosmic order and sovereign dignity.

Both exhibitions run through Feb. 28.