Restored to life, Joseon folding screens reunite with homeland before departure to US
A 19th-century 10-panel folding screen "Cloud Dream of the Nine" from the collection of the Portland Art Museum in Oregon / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
A quiet homecoming unfolds at the National Palace Museum of Korea, devoted to just two objects: a pair of late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) folding screens that crossed the ocean in the last century and found new homes in American museums.
Their return will be marked by a yearlong restoration, carried out here in the land that first gave them life.
Currently on view in Seoul are “Cloud Dream of the Nine,” from the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and “One Hundred Boys at Play,” from the Denver Art Museum in Colorado. The screens will remain on display until July 20, before making their way back across the Pacific.
Time has taken its toll since their creation in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. As the two artifacts passed through many hands, their surfaces accumulated stains and were altered by earlier repair efforts.
The latest conservation, part of an initiative by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, has sought to return the relics to their original state through a restoration that began in October 2023.
Conservators remounted "Cloud Dream of the Nine" to reveal small sections of painting that had long been hidden from view. Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
The 10-panel folding screen, “Cloud Dream of the Nine,” depicts key scenes from the 17th-century novel of the same name by Kim Man-jung. The tale follows a young Buddhist monk who dreams of a life filled with secular accomplishments and romance, only to awaken and realize it was all a fantasy. The painting captures this core message of impermanence, while also reflecting the aspirations of the collector for a life of fortune, honor and earthly delight.
The screen is believed to have been gifted to Marie Elizabeth Church during her time teaching at Ewha Hakdang, a missionary school and precursor to Ewha Womans University, in Seoul around 1910. It was later passed to a family friend, eventually making its way into the Portland Art Museum’s collection.
The latest restoration uncovered visible traces of the artifact’s long journey. Evidence of past repair work included layers of backing paper made from 1913 documents related to Jongmyo (Joseon's royal ancestral shrine) and scrap pages from a 1933 daily newspaper. Conservators also discovered that the panels had been rearranged at some point, disrupting the narrative order.
In response, they restored the proper sequence of scenes and remounted the work to reveal small sections of painting that had long been hidden from view.
A 10-panel folding screen "One Hundred Boys at Play," presumed to have been produced in the late 19th or early 20th century, from the collection of the Denver Art Museum in Colorado / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
The folding screen “One Hundred Boys at Play” features a lively procession of children engaged in games and festivities — an auspicious motif symbolizing fertility and abundance. Such imagery became especially popular during the late Joseon Dynasty, adorning decorations for royal weddings and palace banquets.
This particular piece was acquired by the Denver Art Museum in 1970 from New York-based Felice Fedder Oriental Art; however, how it made its way from Korea to the U.S. remains a mystery.
The recent restoration focused on removing artificial pigments added during earlier repairs. Conservators turned to the original hues and stylistic cues of 19th-century folding screens to remount the painting in a manner faithful to its time.