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.
Last Joseon royal murals from Changdeok Palace step into light
Six monumental murals that once breathed color into Changdeok Palace's residential quarters are on view, Wednesday, at the National Palace Museum of Korea's new exhibition, "Respectfully Portrayed Murals at Changdeokgung Palace." Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
By Park Han-sol
What lingered on the walls of Seoul’s Changdeok Palace a century ago, when the air still carried the last breath of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty?
The answer awaits at the National Palace Museum of Korea (NPMK), where murals that once breathed color into the royal palace’s residential quarters now stand in the light once more, revealed to the public under one roof for the first time following their restoration.
On view in the museum’s “Respectfully Portrayed Murals at Changdeokgung Palace,” the six murals, along with a rare draft sketch, are monumental in scale, stretching up to 9 meters wide and 2 meters tall.
They were painted in 1920, during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45), to grace three private halls — Huijeongdang, Daejojeon and Gyeonghungak — rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1917. At the time, King Sunjong, the final king of Joseon, long since stripped of the throne, and Empress Sunjeong, still lived within the palace grounds.
The works stand as a notable example of royal court painting in its final phase, according to curator Lee Hong-joo. They were first rendered on silk and paper and subsequently affixed to the walls as “bubyeokhwa” — a novel format at the time, replacing the traditional folding screens and window panels.
While steeped in the blue-and-green landscapes typical of court tradition, the murals also carry the mark of modernity, most notably though the artists’ own signatures. This marked a departure from the conventions of the earlier Joseon era, when court painters typically worked anonymously, regarded not as individual creators but as artists within a collective system.
Daejojeon, the private quarters of King Sunjong and Empress Sunjeong, inside Seoul's Changdeok Palace / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
The halls that housed the paintings were constructed in the traditional Korean architectural fashion on the outside, yet fitted with Western-style amenities and interiors.
In Huijeongdang, King Sunjong’s audience chamber, panoramic visions of Mount Geumgang came alive under the brush of Kim Gyu-jin. By this time, the mountain carried layered meanings — revered as a symbol of the Korean national spirit, yet simultaneously promoted as a tourist spot under the Japanese colonial empire.
In Daejojeon, the royal couple’s private quarters, two avian symbols took flight on the walls: “Phoenixes,” a collaborative piece by Oh Il-young and Yi Yong-u, and “White Cranes” by Kim Eun-ho.
Kim Eun-ho's "White Cranes" (1920), above, and its draft sketch / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
And in Gyeonghungak, a study and resting retreat, the walls opened onto idyllic realms populated by immortals: Noh Soo-hyun’s “Land of Immortals at Sunrise” and Lee Sang-beom’s “Three Immortals Viewing the Waves.”
The murals are now preserved at the NPMK, while replica versions are installed in their original locations within the palace halls.
“Respectfully Portrayed Murals at Changdeokgung Palace,” opening Thursday to commemorate the NPMK’s 20th anniversary, runs through Oct. 12. Throughout the exhibition’s run, docent-led tours in Korean are offered daily at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.