Portrait of Kang Hyeon

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.589

Category

Painting

Era

조선 경종 1년(1721)

Designated year

1975

Location

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

Coordinates

37.524041, 126.980350

This portrait is of Kang Hyeon (1650-1733), a scholar-official of mid-Joseon. This full-length portrait shows him in three-quarter turn toward his right, seated on a chair. The painting is 96㎝ by 165.8㎝. Kang Hyeon was the father of Kang Se-hwang, the renowned literati painter-calligrapher, and held high offices in the government, such as the daejehak (chief scholar) and Yejo panseo (minister of the Board of Rites). In this portrait, Kang Hyeon is wearing a green court official’s costume with a matching official’s hat and is sitting on a chair covered with a tiger skin. For facial depiction, thin lines are used repeatedly to create shadows around the eyes, nose, chin and the cheeks. The reddish tone in the skin that comes with age is well captured and rendered in this painting. Garment folds are rendered with simple lines without the use of shadows. The nobility of the character shines through in this portrait. In many aspects including details like the tiger skin on the chair, this item is a classic example of 18th-century Joseon portraiture.

Location