A major thematic exhibition illuminating the artistic world of Kim Hong-do, one of the most celebrated masters of late Joseon art, is now welcoming visitors in Seoul.
“Kim Hong-do: Painting an Era,” which opened on May 4, runs through August 2 at the Painting Gallery II of the Calligraphy and Painting Hall inside the permanent exhibition wing of the National Museum of Korea. The exhibition traces the breadth of Kim’s career, revealing how he moved beyond the formal conventions of court painters to establish one of the most distinctive artistic languages of 18th-century Joseon.
Kim Hong-do, Danwon Genre Painting Album=National Museum of Korea
The exhibition gathers works that showcase Kim’s mastery across landscape painting, bird-and-flower painting, and portraiture. Following the vast traces of his brushwork, visitors encounter both the aesthetic standards of the Joseon era and the vivid realities of contemporary society. Alongside the refined discipline of official court painting, the exhibition also reveals Kim’s remarkable ability to absorb newly introduced artistic influences entering Joseon at the time.
Born in 1745 and believed to have died sometime after 1806, Kim Hong-do rose to prominence early after being selected as a court painter for the Dohwaseo, the royal painting bureau. Though he enjoyed strong royal patronage, his artistic focus extended far beyond the ruling elite. Kim played a decisive role in elevating genre painting, previously considered secondary, into an independent artistic category while simultaneously documenting the lives of ordinary people across Joseon society.
“Kim Hong-do: Painting an Era” exhibition=National Museum of Korea
The exhibition prominently features masterpieces from the artist’s later years. Among them is Giro Se Ryeon Gyedo, which records an elegant gathering of elderly officials at Manwoldae in Gaeseong, alongside Chongseokjeong, known for its forceful depiction of dramatic natural scenery, and Old Plum Blossom Tree, which captures the restrained elegance of an aged plum tree. Together, these works reveal the maturity of Kim’s brushwork and the depth of his artistic vision.
The exhibition’s central highlight is undoubtedly the Danwon Genre Painting Album. When the museum first acquired the album from Jo Han-jun in 1918, it consisted of 27 paintings. During conservation work in 1957, two Gunseondo paintings attached to the front and back were separated into hanging scrolls, resulting in the current 25-piece structure.
Scenes within the album depict village schools, rice-field plowing, wrestling matches, blacksmith workshops, ferry crossings, taverns, rice threshing, and marketplace roads, capturing both labor and leisure across different social classes. Kim’s distinctive compositional approach — often stripping away detailed backgrounds to focus entirely on gesture, facial expression, and bodily movement — intensifies the immediacy of each scene.
Through the exhibition, visitors can experience how Kim Hong-do transformed ordinary moments into extraordinary art. The vitality of common people throughout the album reflects not only the artist’s technical mastery, but also his deeply attentive gaze toward everyday life.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
* This article was manually prepared as a translated piece and later proofread and reviewed with the assistance of AI.
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