Modern minhwa artist paints luck, everyday hope in Korean folk art

Minhwa artist Kim Kyung-hee stands next to her work "Paljundo," featuring eight horses. Courtesy of Kim Kyung-hee

When Kim Kyung-hee first picked up a traditional Korean paint brush, she wasn’t chasing a lifelong dream. A former stay-at-home mom with a master’s degree in ceramic arts, she was recovering from illness and searching for something to anchor her again.

What she found, unexpectedly, was minhwa — a once-dismissed form of Korean folk painting rooted in people's everyday hopes, featuring symbols of good fortune.

“During that period of rest, I asked myself what I truly wanted to do,” she recalled in an interview with The Korea Times at her home studio. “That’s when I enrolled in a folk painting class.”

That decision reshaped her life. Today, Kim is a full-time minhwa artist whose colorful paintings echo centuries of tradition while connecting with a new generation of viewers.

"Hojakdo" is a popular style of minhwa featuring tigers and magpies. Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

Minhwa flourished during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), created primarily by anonymous, non-elite artists. Unlike court or literati painting, it was closely tied to people's everyday lives, beliefs and rituals, and used by ordinary people to decorate their homes.

Common subjects include animals, flowers, birds, fish and books — all imbued with auspicious meanings. These images were believed to bring good fortune, ward off misfortune and were used to celebrate milestones such as weddings and birthdays.

Stylistically, minhwa is characterized by bold colors, flat spatial composition, a single perspective and playful distortions of reality, giving the works a lively, expressive quality.

For a long time, minhwa was considered a lesser artistic tradition and unworthy of much attention. That began changing in recent years as hallyu, or the Korean wave, raised awareness of traditional Korean culture in and outside the country.

In 2025, the shift accelerated with the popularity of the Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters."

Derpy, a blue supernatural creature in the film, evokes the humorous tiger figures that appear in "hojakdo," a popular style of minhwa, accompanied by magpies perched in pine trees.

"Chaekgado," a painting depicting a bookcase filled with books, stationery and decorative items by minhwa artist Kim Kyung-hee / Courtesy of Kim Kyung-hee

For minhwa artists like Kim, the trend is a pleasant surprise.

“I’m happy to see a new movement in which tradition is viewed as something attractive rather than difficult,” the 55-year-old said. “I believe guiding this public interest beyond a passing trend toward a deeper appreciation of traditional aesthetics is a meaningful responsibility for me as an artist.”

Although she came to minhwa with training in art, the genre initially felt unfamiliar. “I couldn’t understand why minhwa didn’t use shading, for example. I bombarded the instructor with questions,” Kim said with a laugh.

What began as curiosity soon became something more. “With minhwa, I experienced a level of immersion that completely drew me in,” she said. “Over time, it became both a sanctuary and a driving force in my life.”

Kim is now an award-winning artist who exhibits internationally. Last year alone, she won a prize at the Korean Folk Painting Awards organized by the Chosun Minhwa Museum in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, followed by an Excellence Award from Seoul-based Ikseon Arts Center.

Her works have been exhibited in China, Switzerland and Singapore, including two solo exhibitions. Another show is scheduled for Japan this summer.

"Chochungdo" a painting by Shin Saimdang, a celebrated female artist of the Joseon Dynasty / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

Types of minhwa

Minhwa is divided into more than a dozen subgenres according to subject matter and theme. What matters most is not the actual depiction but the symbolism behind each motif.

"Sansuhwa" depicts landscapes — particularly trees, waterfalls, rivers and clouds — often accompanied by boats, fish and fishermen. Rather than emphasizing artistic realism, each element carries symbolic meanings that were widely understood and valued by ordinary people, the primary audience for such works.

This unattributed "hwajodo" painting from the late Joseon era, like many other minhwa with no known artist, reflects their origins among ordinary people, rather than court or elite artists. Courtesy of Gyeonggi Province Museum

"Jangsaengdo" is another well-known type of minhwa, featuring symbols of longevity such as deer, rocks, pine trees, turtles, bamboo, the sun, the moon and clouds.

"Hwahwedo" focuses on flowers, representing wealth (peonies), fertility (lotus flowers) and youthfulness (roses).

"Sogwado," uses fruits and vegetables to symbolize fertility (pomegranates), eternal life (peaches) and prosperity for descendants (grapes).

"Hwajodo" depicts flowers and birds to evoke longevity (cranes), career success (cranes), purity (herons) and marital harmony (wild geese and mandarin ducks).

Additional forms include "chuksudo," which feature household animals to represent prosperity and safety; "eohaedo," which depict fish to evoke prosperity and career success; "chaekgado" and "chaekgeori," which feature bookcases filled with books, stationery and decorative items; "chochungdo," which focus on plants and insects; and "munjado," a combination of painting and calligraphy.

While most minhwa painters remain anonymous, some were well known and highly educated. Shin Saimdang (1504-1551), a celebrated artist, poet and calligrapher and the mother of Confucian scholar Yi I, was known for her chochungdo paintings, distinguished by her keen observations and meticulous technique.

Despite her education and social status, her work was still categorized as minhwa largely because she was a woman, reflecting the Confucian social hierarchy of the Joseon era.

Kim Kyung-hee's two "chaekgeori" paintings — The left includes a dragon, while the painting on the right has a carp. Courtesy of Kim Kyung-hee

Template and purpose

According to Kim, two elements are essential to understanding minhwa.

First, many folk paintings begin with templates.

“When I paint minhwa, I start by tracing a basic template,” she explained. “I then make it my own by adding or removing subjects, according to my interpretation."

For example, one of Kim's chaekgeori paintings features books and other literary items with a carp. But in another almost identical version, she replaced the fish with a dragon.

"I painted them for two different exhibitions. For the exhibition in Switzerland, I added the carp. But I replaced the carp with a dragon when I was working on paintings for an exhibition in China."

Kim Kyung-hee's "Yeonhoedo" painting featuring lotus flowers / Courtesy of Kim Kyung-hee

The second defining feature is purpose.

“Minhwa is fundamentally about wishing for good fortune,” Kim said. “Every subject carries meaning — fish symbolize prosperity and fertility, tigers offer protection and books represent success in one’s career.”

Art historian Yoon Yeol-soo of Dongguk University noted this in his 2022 book on minhwa.

“While an artwork typically reflects the creator’s individual worldview, minhwa embodies the collective aesthetic and shared values of ordinary people. It was not painted solely as art, but as a response to everyday needs,” he wrote.

Kim paints a wide range of subjects, but she is particularly drawn to peaches and horses, with the latter gaining more resonance this year, the Year of the Horse.

“Horses aren’t commonly found in traditional minhwa,” she said. “But I love their dynamism. They feel free — able to go anywhere.”

The artist expressed frustration at how minhwa has long been perceived in Korea.

“Because it’s accessible and doesn’t require formal education to begin, people tend to look down on it,” she said. “But like any other art form, it demands deep understanding and dedication.”

Kim, who now teaches about 24 students at a community center in Seoul, has noticed renewed interest and enthusiasm that she hopes will lead to a reassessment of the art form.

“I regret that minhwa has often been treated as a souvenir,” Kim said. “It deserves much more respect.”