Dosanseowondo (Dosanseowon Confucian Academy) by Kang Se-hwang

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.522

Category

Painting

Era

조선 영조 27년(1751년)

Designated year

1970

Location

용산구, 서울특별시— 서울특별시 용산구 서빙고로 137 (용산동6가, 국립중앙박물관)

Coordinates

37.524041, 126.980350

This true-view landscape by Kang Se-hwang (1712-1791), a literati painter of late Joseon, maps out the bird’s-eye view of Dosanseowon Confucian Academy. The painting measures 138.5㎝ by 57.7㎝. The precincts of Dosanseowon Confucian Academy are shown in the center, and a river runs in the foreground, where Tagyeongdam Lake is also visible with a flat-topped rock, Bantaseok Rock, in the middle. On the left side, toward the head of the river, one sees Buncheonseowon Confucian Academy, Aeildang House and Bungangchon Village at a distance, and a calligraphy written by the artist runs vertically down the left edge. The text in calligraphy relates how Yi Ik (pen-name: Seongho), bedridden by illness, asked him to paint a view of the Dosanseowon Confucian Academy as a special favor, and this is followed by his afterthought. The text also provides details of his trip to the Dosanseowon Confucian Academy in preparation for the painting and the date of its completion. A short text written by Choe Nam-seon in the fall of 1927 is added at the end of Kang Se-hwang’s own text. The Confucian academy is represented in this painting, in a manner conforming to its actual layout, with its buildings depicted according to their actual relative sizes and orientations. The name of each building is provided as well. In this landscape, realized in 1751 (the 27th year of King Yeongjo’s reign), mountains and valleys are rendered with fluidity as well as meticulously, as though strands in a frayed hemp fabric. Trees, meanwhile, are rendered with dot-like strokes made with the side of the brush; a signature element of the style of the Southern School of Chinese Painting, popular in Joseon at that time.

Location