Album of Genre Paintings by Kim Hong-do

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.527

Category

Painting

Era

조선시대(18세기)

Designated year

1970

Location

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

Coordinates

37.524041, 126.980350

This album is composed of 25 representative genre paintings by Kim Hong-do, a painter of the late Joseon period. Although Kim Hong-do also painted mountain gods, portraits, and landscapes, he is most famous for his genre paintings. His genre paintings are painted with ink and light watercolors. Each painting is 22.4 cm wide and 26.6 cm long, depicting ordinary citizens’ everyday life and livelihood as in the case of “Wrestling,” “Forge,” and “Library.” Most of them do not have any background to focus on the people who have smiling and round faces, adding humor to the paintings. In addition, thick and strong brushstrokes and stable structures further invigorate the pictures while successfully expressing citizens’ daily emotions and Korean smiles. These paintings, which were painted from 1745 (the 21st year of the reign of King Yeongjo) to 1816 (the 16th year of the reign of King Sunjo), constitute valuable assets that help us better understand the society of that era, since they focus on citizens’ lively reality and sociality and depict citizens’ daily life. A leading painter of the Joseon Dynasty, he drew many paintings with various themes. As for the style of painting, he drew this picture with an accurate, objective description, excluding the free and subjective style evident on his portraits or landscape painting, because he was conscious of its function of recording. Simple lines and active touch bring the figure's live force and movement to this picture. Such restrained touch of line and various compositions are the expression of the healthy tendency and jest of this era. It is not only his representative genre painting but also that of late Joseon. He strongly influenced his next generations and started a stream of trend whose theme concerned awareness of civil society. It functions as documentary pictures that give a glimpse of the social life of that era because everyday life is the album's theme. It shows the daily life of the people, which is full of movement. The reality and sociality also functioned as the main theme.

Location